


Danganronpa REMIXED: Trigger Happy Havoc

by JJayDragon



Series: Danganronpa REMIXED [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Talentswap (Dangan Ronpa), Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied Relationships, Junko and Mukuro have a healthy sibling relationship, Mukuro is the Protagonist, talent swap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 61,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28770825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JJayDragon/pseuds/JJayDragon
Summary: Different talents. Different victims. Different blackeneds. Different survivors.A different protagonist. A different mastermind. A different cast.Same motives. Same setting. Same plot.And the same old bear.What will happen in this talent swap AU? Will our lovely protagonist give everyone hope? Or will they crumble down into the depths of despair?
Relationships: Enoshima Junko & Ikusaba Mukuro, Ikusaba Mukuro & Mioda Ibuki, Ikusaba Mukuro & Naegi Makoto, Ikusaba Mukuro & Saihara Shuichi, Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko & Ikusaba Mukuro, Maizono Sayaka & Naegi Makoto
Series: Danganronpa REMIXED [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199729
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. Welcome to Despair

**Author's Note:**

> It's basically a Talent Swap and Role Swap AU for the first game. It also contains characters from Goodbye Despair, Killing Harmony, and Ultra Despair Girls instead of the original cast. 
> 
> This book follows the first game in the series: Trigger Happy Havoc. So beware of spoilers for that game.
> 
> I’m also wrong this on Wattpad under the same username, just to let you all know.

It's pitch black. The only thing one can see is the faintest silhouette of a cartoon bear, and a chalk board in the background. A light shines on the bear, revealing its cute white fur on one side and its pitch black fur on the other. The bear sits in front on a red button twice as big as its paws. The bear is staring at a blindfolded man tied to a chair, struggling to break free. The bear smashes the red button, causing a rocket to fall behind the struggling man. The man screams as the rocket opens, engulfing him before closing again. Jets come out of the rocket on each side. The rocket shoots upward, breaking through floor after floor after floor until the rocket reaches the stars. As the rocket runs out of jet fuel, the rocket falls back towards Earth in a speedy descent. The rocket lands in front of the bear, who hasn't moved from its position. The rocket opens to reveal not a man, but a broken skeleton. The bear begins to laugh and laugh and laugh. 

/\/\/\/\

The massive high school towers over all the other building in this bustling urban areas. It's like the school stands at the center of the entire world. Hope's Peak Academy. It brings in top students from every field imaginable. A government-funded school of privilege. They say that if you come here and manage to graduate, you'd be set for life. With hundreds of years of tradition, it sends the cream of the crop into the work force every year. It was built to raise hope in the nation's future, which makes Hope's Peak a fitting name. 

There are two things you need to attend this school. One, you already have to be attending high school. Two, you have to be the very best at what you do. No ordinary student could enroll here. The only way in is if you are scouted by the school itself. And standing there at the gate of the ultimate school filled with the ultimate students... were us. 

Before me go any farther, I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Mukuro Ikusaba. On the surface, I look like a regular high school student. An unaltered uniform, black hair cut to a bob, small purple eyes and a slim body. Completely average on the outside, unlike the person standing next to me. 

She would be my twin sister, Junko Enoshima, easily the more fashionable out of us. With her exaggerated bleached strawberry blonde hair pulled into a pigtails, her uniform altered to tease people with her bigger chest, and heavy makeup, it's a wonder we even look alike. 

"I wonder who our classmates are," I said to Junko, catching her attention, "I also wonder what talents they possess." 

Junko rolled her eyes. "I already know," she said with the usual "how hopeless can you be?" undertones in her words. "I looked them up last week. It's a shame you didn't join me." 

"In my defense, I was too busy being on a plane to join you." I said with a faint smirk. 

Junko groaned with too much exaggeration for the groan to actually be real. "I guess I'll have to stick with you so you're not completely lost." 

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "And how do I not know your pulling my leg? Or that you got false information?"

"Always the skeptic, you are." She said with a chuckle. 

"Well what did it say about us?" I asked. 

Junko cleared her throat. "Mukuro Ikusaba:" she said in that weird posh impression she sometimes does, "Ultimate Entomologist; when she ventured to Europe, she discovered many species of bugs and even helped save the Lord Howe Island Stick bug from extinction." Junko then faced me. "So unless you've been lying to me about being a bug freak, I think this lines up with what you've told me." She said, ditching the posh impression.

I raised my hands in mock surrender. "Fine, you win. But just because I'm curious, what did this website say about you?" 

Bringing back the posh, she cleared her throat. "Junko Enoshima: Ultimate Assassin. She is well renowned for taking out her targets and learning everything about them with just a glance. She has had no remorse for any target, the only time she felt sadness was when her twin sister ditched her to go to Europe to look at butterflies." She put her arm around me and her hand to her forehead. "Such cruel betrayal."

I playfully shoved her off of me. "I said I'm sorry, alright? Now we're together, and we even get to go to the same high school! Isn't that amazing?" 

She sighed. "I guess... now come on!" She linked her arm in mine and dragged me towards the academy. "Being late on the first day would make a horrible impression."

But the moment we stepped in, my vision became warped. I couldn't focus on anything. The world was spinning, melting, and spinning again.

And then everything went black. 

/\/\/\/\

"... ugh." 

As I opened my eyes, I wondered if I would be in the same position or place when I lost consciousness. 

I wasn't. 

I was in a chair with my arms and head resting on a wooden desk in a classroom. 

"Wh-what the?" I wondered out loud. "Where am I?"

I've never been in a classroom like this before. And it's very uncommon for me to fall asleep during a class. 

I tried to remember what events lead me to this classroom, until I came to a realization which caused me to shoot up from the chair.

"Junko!" 

I didn't see her anywhere. 

I know she could handle herself, but that doesn't stop a big sister from worrying. We did just reunite after years of being in different countries. 

I immediately ran out of the classroom, hoping Junko was nearby. 

I didn't even pay attention to my surroundings as I moved down a hallway. 

"Mukuro!" A familiar voice called out, causing me to stop in my tracks. 

"Junko?" I called out. "Where are you? Where are we?" 

The familiar face showed up, propelling my feet even more until Junko was right in front of me. 

"What the hell is going on?" I asked her. "Where are we?" 

"Let's walk and talk." Junko said, guiding me somewhere. "There you can meet everyone else at the main hall. And for the record I'm as clueless as you are." 

I wanted to ask, but knowing Junko, she'd just reiterate what she just said, so I just wordlessly agreed and walked with her to the main hall. 

When we reached what I assumed to be the main hall, I saw many other students around my age. 

"I found her!" Junko called out to the students.

"Well that's a relief," a girl with red hair said, "but you really shouldn't have gone off on your own." 

"So she makes 15, right?" A short boy with messy brown hair pointed out. "This should be everyone then." 

"Then I guess we can start introducing ourselves." A girl with short pink hair said. 

"Before we do that," I interjected, "can someone please tell me what is going on?"

"Basically we all woke up in here with no recollection." Junko said. 

"Then why didn't you say that before we got here?"

"Are you guys going to continue arguing? Because we're going to start introducing ourselves and I doubt you want to miss out." A silver-haired girl commented. 

"Well then," Junko said, "let's get to know our class." 

/\/\/\/\

The first person we came across was a girl who was... colorful to say the least. She had black hair dyed with streaks of white, pink, and blue. Some of the hair was put up in buns shaped like horns. She wore a sailor uniform with bright pink and black accents. She accessorized with lots of black bracelets and wore dark makeup. 

"Umm, hello." I said as I approached her, getting her attention. "I'm Mukuro Ikusaba. And this is Junko Enoshima." 

The girl started waving at us rapidly. "Heyyyy! It's very nice to meet ya. The name's I! Bu! Ki! Mi! O! Da!" She nearly yelled in a cheer. "Ibuki Mioda for short." 

Isn't that the same length? 

"W-well, it's nice to meet you, Ibuki." I forced a smile as a rubbed my ear. I really hope I haven't gone deaf. 

"She's known as the Ultimate Cosplayer." Junko explained after Ibuki went to introduce herself to someone else. "She can replicate nearly any fictional character to an accurate degree. She creates her own props, wigs, outfits, everything!" 

"Did you know how energetic and all over the place she'd be?" I asked. 

"No amount of research could have prepared me for that." 

/\/\/\/\

The next person we came across was a girl with curly blonde hair tied into a high ponytail. She wore a white dress shirt with a pink pleated shirt that ended just below her knees. The outfit as a whole looked like it's seen better days, but she made up for it with a confident aura. 

"Hello," I said, hoping to grab her attention, "I'm Mukuro Ikusaba. And this is Junko Enoshima." 

"Hello!" Junko said behind me. 

"Hm? Oh, right. I'm Hiyoko Saionji." The girl said in a high-pitched voice. "Man, I could really use some flowers right now." 

"Oh, do you like flowers?" I asked. 

"Well, duh!" Hiyoko answered rather harshly. "I especially enjoy stomping on them. I also like stomping on ants and other ugly things." She then stomped on my foot before leaving the conversation. 

"Ow!" I clutched my foot, hoping there wasn't too much damage. "Really?" 

"That's Hiyoko for you." Junko said in between her laughs. "She's known as the Ultimate Anthropologist." 

"Really? Could've sworn she'd be the Ultimate Asshole." 

"Regardless of her attitude, she's published many theories about different cultures' art and their similarities. I believe she even published a book about the history of Japanese art and the connections between them."

"Well she clearly hasn't learned about the history of manners."

/\/\/\/\

The next person we came across was a girl with dark blue hair that had a "girl next door" vibe to her. She was fiddling and messing with a camera that was on a strap around her neck when we came up to her. 

When she noticed us, she gave us a big smile and let the camera rest on her chest. "Hi there! I'm Sayaka Maizono! I look forward to getting to know you!" She said genuinely. 

"Hey there!" Junko waved at her before I could respond. "I'm Junko Enoshima, and this here—" she poked me in the rib "—is Mukuro Ikusaba." 

Jesus, you were so close to tickling me, asshole. 

"I'm sure she didn't mean to almost tickle you." Sayaka said. 

I looked at her with wide eyes and probably an embarrassing face. "D-did I say that out loud?" 

Her face turned deadly serious. "I'm psychic."

I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. I glanced at Junko, who was also confused. Out confusion was interrupted by Sayaka breaking into laughter. 

"Kidding!" She said with jazz hands. "I just have really good intuition." 

I forced a laugh as she walked away to talk to another person. "Did the Internet tell you about her reading minds?" I whispered to Junko.

"Not really." Junko answered. "It just told me about her abilities as the Ultimate Photographer. She's received many rewards on the photos she takes, and although she specializes in any photo category, she prefers to take pictures that make people happy." 

"That seems to fit her personality from what I've seen." I said. "Though her talent of taking pictures could be useful in a situation like this. It could be proof of whatever we're going through." 

/\/\/\/\

The next girl we approached had strawberry blonde hair that would look exactly like Junko's if it weren't for it being a shade light and it flowing freely. She had leather straps on her legs and a black choker around her neck. Her pink sailor uniform teased almost everything about her. She overall looked like if Junko was into BDSM. 

"Hey, Junko. I found your real twin." I joked as I nudged her with my elbow. "Who knew someone could be even more obnoxious with her clothes?" 

Junko rolled her eyes. "If you think her style is obnoxious, wait until you see her personality. According to my research, Miu Iruma over there has the nastiest mouth in the country." 

"You talkin' about me behind my back, you virgins?!" A voice yelled. 

Junko and I spun to see Miu Iruma up in our faces, arms crossed and eyes flaming. 

"She did it!" Junko and I said at the exact same time, pointing at each other. "Really, asshole?" We also said together. 

Apparently that was enough to cause Miu to burst into laughter. "Oh, chill out!" She said in between snorts. "Are all twins like this?"

"God I hope not." Junko said, glancing at me with a glare. "Anyway, I don't think we've introduced ourselves. I'm Junko Enoshima, and this is Mukuro Ikusaba." 

"Well, Juncock and Pookuro," Miu continued as I thought about how impressed I'd be about how she came up with nicknames on the fly if the nicknames weren't so hurtful. "I hope we can get along, especially if you're experienced." She winked and walked away, making sure we got a glimpse of her panties. 

"Jesus Christ..." was all I could say after that conversation. 

"Jesus Christ indeed." Junko echoed. "She's the Ultimate Doujin Artist if you couldn't tell." 

"Wow, fitting."

/\/\/\/\

After a bunch of ladies, we finally came across a guy. He would've been painfully average if it weren't for two things: his short height, and the two dogs in the man's hoodie pocket. He seemed to be petting them, to soothe the dogs or himself, I couldn't say. 

"Excuse me?" I said to catch his attention.

He immediately looked up and flashed a genuinely bright smile. "Hi! I don't think we've met yet. I'm Makoto Naegi." 

"Well, Makoto, I'm Mukuro Ikusaba, and this is Junko Enoshima." I said, hoping that the heat flooding through my face was just sweat. "Cute dogs you got there." 

"Why thank you, I bred them myself." He said, taking them from the hoodie pocket and putting on in each of his hands. "This is Kuroba," he rose up his left hand, which held a dog with long brown hair, "she's Havenese, and this—" he lifted his left hand, which held another small dog, which was much fluffier than Kuroba, and had golden fur, "—is Kare. She's a Pomeranian."

"Were you able to bring them freely, or were you trying to smuggle them in?" Junko asked, holding back the urge to grab the dogs and cuddle them. 

"I was actually able to bring them freely!" Makoto said, putting Kuroba and Kare back into his hoodie pocket. "Since they have to do with my talent, Hope's Peak thought it would be acceptable. I'm the Ultimate Breeder, by the way. What about you guys? What are your talents?" 

"Entomologist." I said. "I study bugs, but if I had known I could bring some I absolutely would have brought Ashi." 

"In this scenario, it's probably better that you left her home." Junko said. "I'm sure a tarantula would have made everybody more scared." She turned to Makoto. "Anyway, I'm the Ultimate Assassin." 

Makoto's eyes widened and he took a step back. "R-Really?" 

I rolled my eyes as Junko giggled. "Oh, relax. I only murder people if I've been paid to kill them. I personally don't see why anyone would consider you a threat, so I believe you're good... for now." 

Makoto tilted his head, probably out of confusion and a little shock. "Thank... you?

"Don't worry," I interjected, "I'll keep her in check." 

As Makoto left the conversation, I saw Junko smirking at me. 

"What?" 

"You're blushing." 

"N-no I'm not." I tried to pull my shirt up to cover the lower part of my face. "It's probably the stress of not knowing what's going on."

"Whatever you say, bug freak."

/\/\/\/\

The next guy we came across was definitely trying not to be seen. He wore all black clothes and a cap that was deliberately being used to conceal his face. I was walking toward him before Junko forcefully grabbed my arm, causing me to stop. 

"Wait." She whispered, making sure our backs faced him. "I don't know anything about him. He might be dangerous or something."

"Really?" I cocked an eyebrow. "Why would that make him dangerous?" 

"Maybe he's the reason we're in this situation!"

"Or it's because he was chosen by the nationwide lottery Hope's Peak holds. That would make them the Ultimate Lucky Student." 

Junko didn't say anything to that. 

"Besides, if you are correct, then you know what they say: keep your friends close..." 

Junko sighed. "And your enemies closer." She mumbled. 

I walked towards the guy, not really caring if Junko followed. "Hi, there." 

The man looked up, showing his face and forced a small smile. "Hi. Have we—?"

"Oh my god, your eyelashes are amazing!" Junko interrupted, getting very close to him. "How did you get them like that? I just have to know." 

"Ah, I'm sorry," The man said, backing up as much as possible, "I don't do anything, these are actually natural."

"Don't harass him, asshole." I grabbed Junko's shoulder and pulled her back. "I'm so sorry about my younger sister here."

"It's alright." The man said, clearly just trying to be polite. "My name is Shuichi Saihara. What are yours?"

"I'm Mukuro Ikusaba, and this is Junko Enoshima." 

Junko smiled. "Pleasure to meet you." She turned to me. "Can you let me go now?" 

I reluctantly did so. "Again, sorry about Junko. You know how teenage girls can be." 

Once Shuichi was out of earshot, I whispered: "Way to make a good first impression." 

"Shut up!" Junko pouted.

/\/\/\/\

The next person we came across was a silver haired girl with shocking red eyes behind rectangular glasses. She wore a dark green schoolgirl uniform and had a guitar case strapped to her back. 

"Hi there!" Junko sang. "I'm Junko Enoshima and this is Mukuro Ikusaba." 

The girl didn't respond, she just eyes us up and down. 

"Uh, what's your name?" I asked, hoping that would get a reaction out if her. 

"My name is Peko Pekoyama." She finally said. "It is nice to meet you." 

"I-it's nice to meet you, too." I said. 

That was the most we could get out of her. 

"She's known as the Ultimate Musician." Junko explained. "She writes her own music, most of which were big hits. She mostly plays covers with her acoustic guitar. Her voice is also amazing!"

"That explains why I haven't heard of her." I said, mostly to myself. I was in Europe at the time, so I doubt a Japanese artist's reputation would have made it there.

/\/\/\/\

The next guy was a man with big red eyes and even bigger eyebrows. He had round goggles sitting atop his messy black hair. He wore an all white uniform that had smothers of dirt on it and he had a belt full of tools around his waist. 

"Hello there!" He shouted at us when he saw us . "I am Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but you can just call me Taka!" 

"Nice to meet you Taka." I said as I snapped my fingers by my ears to make sure I didn't go deaf. "I'm Mukuro Ikusaba."

"And I'm Junko Enoshima." Junko flashed a rather fake smile, probably because she was also annoyed at how loud Taka was. "Nice to meet you." 

"It is nice to meet you as well!" Taka said. "Those are very nice names you have there!"

"Thank you..." I said, not knowing what else to say. 

"I will be off introducing myself to other people, goodbye!" He brashly walked off. 

I looked at Junko, who was almost as bewildered as me. "So... that's Taka." 

"So he says, I couldn't not hear it from him." I said as I watched Taka go to the other side of the room, still being able to hear him. "Jesus, why does he have to be so loud?"

"Dunno, but he's the Ultimate Inventor, so maybe he accidentally created some explosions that made him go partially deaf?" Junko guessed. "Oh well, guess we'll have to put up with him for the next three years."

/\/\/\/\

The next student was a girl with long blue hair, round glasses, and an regular school uniform. She also had a long scar on her left cheek. She looked so deep in thought that she was barely moving. 

"Maybe we should wait until she's not lost in thought." I suggested to Junko, turning to face her. 

But when I did, she was already walking up to the girl. "Helllooo?" She said. 

The girl didn't respond. 

"Anybody up there?" Junko started to poke her cheek. 

"Junko, you should probably stop." I walked up to her. 

"Oh please," Junko huffed, "she's only the Ultimate Yakuza, nothing special." 

"Y-Yakuza?!" 

"Yep." The girl finally said, grabbing Junko's arm. "I'm Tsumugi Shirogane. I'm the heir to the Shirogane clan." 

"S-Shirogane?!" I almost yelled. 

"I know, I know." Tsumugi giggled. "How can someone as plain looking as me be connected to the Yakuza?"

"W-well," I tried to pull Junko away from Tsumugi, who eventually let go of her arm, "we're sorry f-for disturbing you." 

"Oh, it's alright." She said. "I hope we can get along despite that annoyance." 

When we were out of earshot, I slapped Junko upside the head. "What the heck we're you thinking?!" 

"Chill out," Junko said with a chuckle, "I'm not dead, am I?" 

"Just be careful. I can't have you dying on me right when I arrived to Japan."

"Roger that!" 

/\/\/\/\

We came across another guy with unkempt wavy white hair with a pink tint near the roots. He wore a worn dark green jacket that has his own additions painted over. He also wore a white shirt and blue jeans also covered in paint, along with a belt that had paintbrushes and sculpting hammers. 

"Hello there!" I waved at him, which caught his attention. "We didn't introduce ourselves to you, did we?" 

The guy let out a raspy laugh and turned his attention to us. "I don't think we have. I'm Nagito Komaeda. Nice to meet you." 

"I'm Junko Enoshima." 

"And I'm Mukuro Ikusaba." I took another quick glance at his outfit. "Let me guess, your the Ultimate Painter?" 

"Close. Ultimate Artist. Im not limited to just paint, I can use pencils, crayons, even dirt if allowed. I can also create sculptures as well." He looked both of us up and down. "What about you guys?" 

"Entomologist." I answered. "I study bugs and make sure they don't go extinct." 

Nagito nodded and looked at Junko expectantly.

"Assassin." She said. "Surely you don't need me to explain what an assassin is." 

"No, I know what an assassin is." Nagito sighed. "Such cool talents that could make the world a better place. I don't see how a lowly artist like me could bring hope to the world." 

Oh boy, genuine low self esteem or fishing for compliments? "Don't say that." I said, hoping that was the right answer. "Art is really enjoyable to look at. I'm sure the world would be very boring without the colors you'll bring in the future." 

Nagito smiled. "You're too kind. I hope we'll get along for the time we're here." 

After we walked away, I turned to Junko. "You're better at reading people; is his low self esteem genuine or is he just fishing for compliments?" 

"Oh, absolutely the former." Junko answered. "From what I could tell, whatever confidence he has in himself is being hung by a thread. Let's hope it doesn't snap."

/\/\/\/\

The next girl was one with bright pink hair cut to a bob, which almost looked like mine if it weren't for the big bedazzled bow on her head. She wore a black school uniform with pink accents to match her hair and the skirt falling to just below her knees. She also had a narrow yet long bag behind her with the strap across her chest. 

"Hello there!" Junko singsonged to the girl. "I don't think we've met. I'm Junko Enoshima, and this is Mukuro Ikusaba." 

"Hey." I said. 

The girl flashed a bright smile and dove into a curtsy. "Nice to meet you! That introduction was rather short and sweet. Oh! You know what's also short and sweet? Kittens! I could really use a kitten to pet right now. I tried to ask the short guy over there—" she pointed to Makoto, "—but he just had dogs." 

"Alrighty..." I said under my breath. "I don't think we've caught your name yet, have we?" 

The girl giggled. "Oh, right! Silly me. I'm Kotoko Utsugi. I'm known as the Ultimate Swordswoman. You might've thought the Ultimate in that field is a boy, but nope! I'm a girl. And a really cute one at that!" 

"That's good to know." I said. "I hope we can get along during the time we're here."

After Kotoko walked off, Junko explained het talent a little more. "She's amazing with the sword; she mostly uses it for defensive tactics. Oh, and by why way," she brought her voice to a whisper "don't use the word 'gentle' around her. It brings up bad memories of pedophiles." 

I sighed. "Fucking pedophiles, man."

/\/\/\/\

Our next introduction was to a short boy wearing an expensive suit, looking annoyed with the whole situation. He had quite the baby face, and the freckles on the bridge of his nose didn't help, but I wasn't going to point that out.

"Excuse me?" I said, hoping that would get his attention. 

The boy scoffed. "What the fuck do you want?" 

I glanced at Junko with a surprised look before continuing. "We just want to introduce ourselves. I'm Mukuro Ikusaba." 

"And I'm Junko Enoshima! What's your name, babyface?" 

The boy didn't hesitate to grab Junko and slam her into the wall. I would've interjected, but I valued my life at the time, and Junko seemed to have predicted this outcome despite pretending to be shocked. "I'm letting you off the hook just this once, because I'm under the assumption you don't know me." He growled. "Don't. Ever. Call. Me. That. Again." He then let go of Junko, who collapsed onto the floor. "Name's Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, by the way." 

After Fuyuhiko walked away, I helped Junko up from the floor, who was trying to contain her laughter. "You sure do like to live dangerously."

"Oh, come on." Junko rolled her eyes. "At least it got the attention of everyone here, who now know not to call the Ultimate Prince 'babyface.' Oh, yeah. He's apparently the heir of some small country in the mainland somewhere." 

"I wonder if a citizen calling him 'babyface' would give them the death penalty." I snickered at the thought. "Well for a prince, he sure isn't charming." 

/\/\/\/\

The next, and supposedly final, person was a girl with short red hair. She had an olive green dress over a white dress shirt, most of which was covered with an oversized red and white flannel. She saw us approach her, probably ready for an introduction. "Hello, there." She turned to Junko. "Aren't you the one who was really fidgety because you couldn't find your sister?" 

I gasped and put a hand to my heart. "You care about me, Junko?" 

"Shut up." Junko playfully elbowed my gut, averting my gaze. 

"Anyway," the redhead continued, "we should really introduce ourselves. I'm Mahiru Koizumi. And you are?" 

I pointed to myself. "Mukuro Ikusaba," I then pointed to Junko, "Junko Enoshima. Nice to meet you, Mahiru." 

"Same here." Mahiru sighed and looked around the room. "I really hope this is some sort of crude joke. It's starting to really annoy me." 

"You and me both." Junko huffed. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the Ultimate Gamer, right?" 

Mahiru smiled and nodded. "That's me. I really enjoy visual novels and puzzle solving games, but I can easily play other ones as well. What about you guys? What are your talents?" 

/\/\/\/\

After doing the same song and dance with everyone, the tension in the room started to evaporate. It would have been nice if it weren't for the abnormal situation we're in. 

"I guess now that we know our class, we can start getting down to business." Junko crossed her arms. "What in the world is going on here?" 

"You say that as if I had a clue." I ran my hand through my hair. "That last thing I remember is waking into the main hall with you. Then black." 

"Same here, actually. That's what everyone here remembers as well." 

"Is that what I missed out on?"

"Basically, yes. We all found out that all the windows have been bolted up, all our possessions are gone, and we seem to be the only people in the whole building."

"Good to know... is there anyone you're suspicious of?" 

Junko hesitated before getting close enough so that only I could hear what she had to say. "Yes, actually."

I tried to ask who or why, but was interrupted by some sort of bell ringing, which was followed by the sound of static coming from the monitor. 

We all crowded around the monitor to see if anything showed up. Sadly, all it showed was the shadow of a... bear? 

"Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcasting system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then...!" A voice said, clearly through the monitor. I couldn't tell if it was masculine or feminine, but it managed to be both cartoony and sadistic. Like the voice of a tv mascot laughing at a car accident. 

"What the fuck?" I whispered loudly to Junko, who didn't seem to respond. She was too busy trying to analyze what this could be.

"Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at... right now!" The voice continued. "Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. That's all. I'll be waiting!" The monitor then turned off. 

There was stunned silence between all of us. 

"What. The. Hell was that just now?" Junko broke the silence. 

I looked around wondering if anyone would answer. The only answer I got was equal confusion and a couple footsteps of people heading to the gymnasium apparently. 

I looked towards Junko, silently asking her what we should do. Should we stay here? Should we go to the gymnasium? Should we look around the building to find out more of what's going on? 

"We should follow them." Junko finally said. "In situations like these. It's probably best that we do what we're told."

I wordlessly nodded, still trying to comprehend what's going on as I steadied my breaths. 

Junko squeezed my hand, breaking me from my trance. "Don't worry. Everything will work out. Especially now that we're together again."

I let out a small laughed and met her eyes. "Right. You're right. Everything will be okay." I said, mostly to myself. "Let's go to the gym."

/\/\/\/\

The entrance to the gym was full of trophies and banners, potentially of previous classes if this building actually was Hope's Peak. Hope's Peak is full of the best of the best, after all. 

While Junko and I walked through, we heard the voices of other students, speculating what was going on. 

"Man, this place sure is a shithole." 

"Are we the only ones here?" 

"I could really use some ants to step on right now." 

"The staff is probably just trying to spook us. I'm sure the metal plates cover the windows with be taken down later!" 

I squeezed Junko's hand even tighter as I pushed the door open. 

The gymnasium itself looked like a regular gym that was set up for an announcement. There were metal chairs set up facing a stage, which had a podium. 

You'd think Hope's Peak would have their auditorium and gym separate, but apparently that's not the case. 

"Hey there, howdy, hello!" That same voice from the monitor shouted. "Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get things going!" 

I looked around for the owner of the voice, but I didn't find such luck. 

"Look!" Shuichi said, "I think it's coming from the podium." 

We all faced the podium, to find... a stuffed toy?

It was a bear. White on the left, black on the right. The black side had a red eye and a giant grin. 

"A... teddy bear? Are you serious, Pooichi?" Miu said. 

"I'm not a teddy bear!" The teddy bear said. "I... am... Monokuma! And I am this school's headmaster! Nice to meet you all!"

"A talking Teddy Bear?" Taka asked. "That's amazing! I wonder what mechanisms were used to make it that way!" 

"I already said, I'm not a teddy bear. I'm the headmaster!" Monokuma said. 

"Oh, relax you guys." Mahiru said, sensing all our confusion and fear. "There's obviously a remote control somewhere."

Monokuma gasped and put a paw to his chest. "How dare you! I am not a children's plaything! You wound me!"

"Oh fuck off!" Fuyuhiko yelled. "You gonna tell us why we are here or not?!" 

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there, but it's hard to when you're still comprehending that I'm not a toy! Now..." Monokuma cleared his throat. "Good morning, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony!" He held for applause. 

No one applauded. 

"Fuck off!" Miu shouted, causing me to snort. 

"First, let's talk a bit about what your school life will look like. Now because we need to nurture the amazing hope stored in you guys' talents... you will all live a peaceful life here together for all eternity while obeying the rules!"

What? Why? I didn't see this anywhere. Is Monokuma serious? Is anyone even believing this? Should I believe this? 

I looked around; everyone looked as confused as me. There were murmurs of confusion and disbelief. No one seemed to actually take Monokuma's words as truth. 

Then why am I so scared? 

"Oh, but don't worry! We have all the supplies you all need to survive, and even some luxuries!" Monokuma scratched the back of his head.

"That's the least of our worries right now!" Sayaka said. 

"Yeah, what the hell?" Junko said, squeezing my hand. "What do you mean we have to stay here forever? Quit fucking with us?"

"I am not messing with anyone right now! I am many things, but I am no liar!" Monokuma shouted before regaining composure. "And by the way, you all have been completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about that crummy world ever again!"

"Cut off?" Makoto asked, hugging his dogs close. "So all those metal plates all over the school... they're there to keep us trapped in here?"

"Yep! Correctamundo!" Monokuma confirmed. "So no matter how much you scream and shout for help, no one will come! So with all that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandons!" 

"Oh, come on!" Hiyoko huffed. "If this is some sort of joke, I'll beat your ass, you nasty pigshit!"

"Wow, so much doubt. Well, I guess that's fair." Monokuma said. "You all were raised to distrust anyone you meet. Anyway, you'll have all the time in the world to decipher what I say is true or not. And when that time comes, you'll all see how much of an honest bear I am... what's the matter? You all decided to go to Hope's Peak, didn't you? And you already want to leave when the entrance ceremony isn't even done?" 

"We didn't agree to living here forever!" Kotoko argued. "Just to attend here for three years!" 

"Well, I guess there is one way to leave the school..." Monokuma trailed off.

"There is?" Peko asked. 

"As the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy, I've crafted a special clause for those who would like to leave! It's called... the Graduation Clause!" 

"Real original!" Ibuki called out. "At least call it something spunky!"

"As I mentioned," Monokuma didn't seem to pay much mine to Ibuki's comment, "in order to maintain a peaceful lifestyle here, we have to work together. So if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they alone would be allowed to leave the school and graduate!" 

"What do you mean by 'disrupt the harmony?'" I asked. 

"I'm glad you asked!" Monokuma, despite having one expression, managed to smile even more. "By disrupt the harmony, I mean murder someone!" 

Complete silence. 

"M-murder?" Makoto managed to get out, his dogs closer to him than ever. 

"Stabbing, strangling, drowning, poisoning, use whatever method you want." Monokuma listed off what he said. "You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's that simple. Be as creative as your heart desires!" 

You have to... murder someone? 

"Now I hope you know that this is nothing personal." Monokuma said. "I just find it exciting when beacons of hope such as yourselves fall into the hopelessness that is Despair. It's just so amazing to watch!"

This... this is too much. 

"Now I hope you have an amazing school year! And get along. You do have to live with each other for the rest of your lives!" Monokuma then sunk into the floor. 

I'd wonder how he'd be able to do that if I wasn't busy freaking the fuck out. 

This was supposed to be a regular high school. 

I was supposed to make friends and maybe fall in love. 

I was supposed to get close with my sister whom I haven't seen in years. 

Why? 

WHY? 

I was breathing heavily. I couldn't focus on what the others were saying. I couldn't focus on the world around me. 

I couldn't do anything. 

Is this the Despair Monokuma wanted us to feel? 

That was the last thought I had before I passed out.


	2. To Survive: Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mukuro tries to navigate and make friends in Hope’s Peak, but things go down south very quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want you all to know that I will not go out of my way to make ships happen. I am writing the story as I go, and ships aren’t the main focus here. But you are more than able to interpret any relationships in her as romantic if you desire.
> 
> Also. I’m sorry I’m a day late!”

I wish I could say that my waking up from such a freak out was in a cozy bed, or at least covered in blankets. 

Sadly, my dear sister had other plans. 

I instead woke up to the splashing of cold water all over my body. 

"Wake up, you bitch!" The familiar voice of Junko screamed. 

I immediately sat up, finding myself in a cozy bed. At least I was lucky enough to be comfortable despite the freezing cold water sinking through my clothes and blankets. 

This isn't my bed. 

If it weren't for the fact that I was in a room I've never seen before, I would've screamed "What the fuck?!" at Junko and attempted to slap her. 

"Where are we?" I asked. Then I remembered. "Oh, dear god please don't tell me this is real." I put my head in my hands. 

Junko sighed, sitting on the side of "my" bed and setting down the bucket that I assumed held the water she splashed me with. "Yeah, it's real. The freaky bear wasn't because of any acid you were tripping on or anything. As for your first question, this is my dorm room." 

I looked up from my hands to look at my supposed dorm. It was rather big, covered in tacky red wallpaper. There was the bed I was lying in (which was now soaked. Junko you asshole), a desk and chair behind the bed (what kind of psychopath leaves their bed not touching any walls?), a round table, a trash can, and some sort of horizontal cabinet. 

There was also a door right beside my bed, which I could only assume lead to the bathroom, and a door down a miniature hallway, which probably lead to outside Junko's dorm. 

"What happened?" I asked Junko. "After I passed out, I mean. Did you carry me here?"

"No, I left you behind with two random weirdos that have a motive to kill you." Junko said. "Of course I did! Are you stupid?!" 

"So what that bear said was true..." Was all I could say. "Someone will have to kill someone to leave here." 

Junko solemnly nodded. "That is correct... Oh! Here." She handed me what looked like a iPad. "This is your E-Handbook or whatever. It's basically a student ID that has rules and shit. It's best that you take a look at it." She stood up. "I'll go look for some clean clothes for you. You're so idiotic to be sleeping in wet clothes." She then looked around the room, trying to find where the clothes would be. 

I wordlessly took the E-handbook from her and turned it on. It opened with a dumb jingle and revealed my name: Mukuro Ikusaba. 

"Hey I think this is actually yours." I joked to Junko. "It has your name on it." 

Junko let out a laugh. "Oh, of course. Silly me." 

I clicked the school regulations icon, which led me to what I assumed the list of the rules and regulations were. 

1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time. 

2: "Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution. 

3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.

4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion. 

5: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras. 

6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered. 

7: Additional school regulations may be added as necessary. 

As I finished reading the final rule, Junko threw some clothing at me, hitting my face. 

"Thank you." I said through the muffled clothes. 

"These were all I could find, so suck it up." Junko said. "Put on those dry clothes then come to the dining hall. Everyone will be meeting there to discover what they found. Don't be late." 

She was about to leave through the opened door when I called out to her. "Junko?" 

"Hm?"

"Don't die." 

I always jokingly said that to her whenever she was about to go off and kill whoever she was told to kill. She would've always said something like "no promises" or "darn, there goes my plans" or something silly like that. 

But here, she could tell that I wasn't joking. So she simply smiled and said "I won't" before closing the door behind her. 

I decided to take a look at the clothes Junko threw at me. They were much more akin to Junko's style, much to my disdain. I decided to put them on with little issue due to me being thinner than her. I then made my way to the dining hall until a piece of paper taped onto the wall caught my interest.

It had words on it, so naturally I went up and read it. 

"Announcement from Headmaster Monokuma: 

Each room's lock has been designed to completely protect against tampering or lock-picking. Remaking an individual room key is quite troublesome, so please make sure not to lose yours. 

Your room comes furnished with a shower, but please note that the water is turned off at nighttime. Also, the bathrooms in the girls' rooms include a lock of their own. 

Finally, we've prepared a small gift for each of you. For the girls, a sewing kit. And for the boys, a toolkit. The sewing kit includes a map of the body's vital organs. One stab will do the job, girls! For the boys, we believe a strong blow to the head with any of the tools should be ample.

Don't think! Just feel! And let's enjoy ourselves!"

I sighed and ripped the piece of paper to throw into the trash can. 

I guess I should make my way to the dining hall. 

/\/\/\/\

The dining hall was rather easy to find. After leaving the red hallway that had everyone's dorms in them, I saw two open doors which unless the fork and spoon sign was moved to another room as a prank, led to the dining hall. 

The dining hall had an array of white tables and chairs, with a long white table in the middle where my classmates were sitting. They all seemed to break into conversations between everyone; I only caught bits and pieces of it as I found a chair to the left of Junko. 

"At least it looks like everyone's getting along." I said to her as I sat next to her. 

"For now." She said. "More than half of them are just making friends out of fear so they won't get killed." 

"Ah, well I guess that makes sense." I said. "Anyone in particular we should ally ourselves with?" 

"See for yourself." She gestured to our classmates. "Don't expect me to do all the work."

"Fine, I will." I said in a mocking tone. I looked around, seeing what conversations I could butt into. 

My first target was Sayaka and Makoto. They were petting Kare and Kuroba as they talked. 

"By the way, Makoto," Sayaka started, "did you happen to go to Blackfoot Junior High?" 

"Yes, actually. I was in Class 2." Makoto's smile then faltered. "Wait, how do you know that?" 

Sayaka smiled brightly with a quiet gasp. "I knew it! I was wondering where I recognized you. I was in Class 4!" 

Makoto didn't say anything, gears turning in his head. "Oh, yeah! That's why you look so familiar. I'm sorry we never got the chance to talk." 

"It's alright." Sayaka lifted the hand that was petting Kuroba and put it on top of Makoto's. "With my busy schedule taking pictures, and your busy schedule taking care of animals, it's a wonder we even exchanged glances at all!" 

They continued to catch up with each other as I directed my attention elsewhere. I didn't want to disturb their little reunion. 

I saw Peko playing her guitar. It was loud enough to create some sort of background noise, but quiet enough that it wouldn't distract anyone from their little conversations. She was very focused, as if playing guitar was the only thing she cared about. 

I thought it better to talk to her another time, not wanting to disturb the peace she made. I was about to turn around when I saw Fuyuhiko just as entranced as I was. 

He almost looked like a different person when he didn't have his resting bitch face. He looked like he had seen (or heard?) the most beautiful thing in the world. I didn't have enough time to decipher if it was directed toward Peko or her music, because when he noticed me staring, he left in a huff after swearing at me. 

Shuichi was all by himself, his cap hanging low. I decided to sit down next to him, which caused him to jump. 

"Sorry if I scared you, Shuichi." I quickly apologized. "Though I wouldn't blame you for being a little on edge." 

"It's quite alright." Shuichi let a smile creep up on his face. "I was just deep in thought, that's all." 

"Let me guess, it's about how we got in this mess?" 

"Yeah, I still have a lot of questions. Why is this happening? What is going on outside? Its just a lot of questions up here." He gestured to his brain. 

"I get that." I had no idea what to say after that. I wasn't exactly well-versed in social environments. "But I'm sure we can figure it out with this many people on our side." 

Shuichi was silent for a couple seconds before smiling at me. "You're right. We should be alright." 

We stayed in silence until I realized that that was the most I would get out of him. "I'm going to see what the others are doing." I said as I got up from my seat and started to eavesdrop on other conversations. 

"So Taka," I heard Mahiru say, "what kind of things to you invent? House appliances, computers, whatever you're feeling?" 

"I'm glad you asked!" Taka said in his usually loud voice. "I make things that help benefit society!" 

"That's... vague." Was all Mahiru could say. "So you make necessities instead of more... pleasurable items like game consoles or anything?"

"Of course not!" Taka huffed. "I don't need to waste my brain power on recreational ideas, I am needed to propel this world into a better way of life!" 

They (mostly Taka boasting about himself) continued to talk about their plans for their talents, so I left it at that. 

"So let me get this straight..." I heard Nagito say, "the art that you do is drawing fictional characters from other creators, and you put them in a comic with your own narrative?" 

Ah, he must be talking to Miu. 

"That's right, Komaedick!" Miu said. "I write and draw comics of characters, especially of them fucking!"

"Wow, you must be really good at anatomy." Nagito deadpanned. 

"Well, duh! I probably know more about wangs than you do, and that's saying something since I don't have one!"

"Oh, come on." Nagito chuckled. "I've sculpted my fair share of nude statues, so don't be too sure about that. But I'm sure your drawings bring so much hope! Unlike mine."

I decided that I should stop listening in on that conversation. 

"Wow, that sword looks so awesome!" I heard Ibuki shout in excitement, to what I would assume to be Kotoko. "Did you make it yourself?" 

"No, I was never one for arts and crafts." Kotoko answered. "I was actually into theater when I was little. I was so adorbs in all the productions I started in. The costumes were also adorbs!" 

I got the feeling that the conversation would mostly be lead by Kotoko, so I stopped listening. 

I sat back down next to Junko. "I think I got a feel for everyone that's in here. Are we missing anyone?" 

Junko hummed in contemplation as she counted everyone. "Nope." She answered. "We're short a Tsumugi and a Hiyoko." 

"Not anymore, pig barf!" A familiar voice shouted

We all turned to see Hiyoko and Tsumugi walk in. "Sorry we took so long." Tsumugi smiled apologetically. 

"As long as you're here now, I guess." Mahiru rolled her eyes. "Is this everyone?"

"It should be." Junko answered. "So shall we get started?"

"Who should we start with?" Peko asked as she turned to Mahiru. "How about us?"

"I'm fine with that." Mahiru stood up from her seat so everyone could see her. "Peko and I were investigating the dorm rooms. All the dorms have the exact same layout, and were already furnished and assigned to us." Mahiru gestured for Peko to continue. 

"We also discovered that the walls are completely soundproof, and that the locks to both our dorm rooms and bathrooms are incredibly difficult to lockpick." Peko continued. 

"Also," Mahiru piped up, "there was a note from Monokuma, saying that the girls were given a sewing kit while the men were given a tools kit." 

So Monokuma must have put a note in everyone's room, then.

"It's true." A new voice piped up. We all turned to see Fuyuhiko stand up. "I was in my room the whole time, and I was given a tool kit. Also, my bathroom wasn't locked." He shot Mahiru a glare, who in turn scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Well that's because again, the Monokuma note said that only the girls' bathrooms are locked," she said matter-of-factly, "which I would've gotten to if it weren't for you interrupting me." She then brought her attention back to the whole class. "The note also said that water is turned off at night, which I personally don't know why." She turned to Peko. "Did we miss anything?"

Peko shook her head. "No, I believe you covered everything." 

"Then I'll go next." Junko stood up as both Mahiru and Fuyuhiko sat down. "I wanted to get some food for Mukuro for when she woke up, so I went to the kitchen." She pointed to the black door. "It was overflowing with all kinds of food! Meat, fruits, even ice cream! So at least were set for a while."

"That may be true," Shuichi pondered, "but even so, there's fifteen of us. There's no way the food will last that long." 

"While that may be true, apparently the food is restocked every morning." Junko said with a wave of her hand. "At least, that's what Monokuma told me."

"You saw him?!" I asked. "Did he do anything?"

"Oh, relax." Junko chuckled at my big-sister-protectiveness. "All he did was come out of nowhere, said that, then disappeared." Her eyebrows then furrowed in confusion. "How does he do that?"

"More importantly, how can you trust what he says?" Miu pointed out. "He probably said that to let our guard down, and then starve us like some titless little bitch!"

"We can work that all out later." Ibuki said to Miu. "Let's talk about what Miu and Ibuki discovered!"

Miu huffed. "Very well. We checked out the windows. All of them were covered in nuts, screws, and metal. And not the good kind!"

"It's true!" Ibuki nodded. "We tried our hardest to open them, but they wouldn't even budge or dent! It's harder to move than something that was both stitched and hot-glued together!"

"That's a shame." Tsumugi said rather quietly. "You didn't find anything else?" 

"Only that I have the best tits out of everyone here!" Miu crossed her arms and smiled triumphantly. 

"No one cares about that, you flashy loser bitch!" Hiyoko said, causing me to suppress a laugh. 

Miu gasped and hugged herself and was she... blushing? 

"Anyway," Hiyoko smiled and turned to all of us, "I found this lying around." She slapped a piece of paper onto the table, causing us to crowd around it. "It's the layout of the first floor of Hope's Peak Academy!"

"It also looks like the layout of the first floor of the building we're in." Mahiru pointed out. "That must mean..."

"That we're truly stuck inside Hope's Peak?" Shuichi sighed. "It looks like it." 

"So Monokuma was telling the truth, then." Kotoko drummed her fingers on the table. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." 

"At least it probably means he's not lying about restocking food every day!" Makoto smiled. "There's on silver lining."

"That was all I found, but I later joined Tsumugi in her search," Hiyoko poked Tsumugi in the rib, "which was as fruitless as her brain." 

"I was mostly looking around for anyone outside our class that was trapped here," Tsumugi said, not reacting to Hiyoko at all, "but it looks like we're the only people in the building, so I didn't find much."

"At least you did more than those three." Mahiru pointed to Makoto, Nagito, and Kotoko. "They stayed in the gym the whole time!"

"My dogs were freaking out, so I thought it'd be best for me to stay put to calm them down." Makoto tried to explain. "I doubt a bunch of barking would've helped anyone."

"Makoto asked for my help, so I naturally stayed there." Kotoko said. "I'm sure it would've been much more of a hassle for just one guy, talented or not."

We all expectantly looked at Nagito for whatever explanation he had for staying in the gym. 

"I would have gotten in the way of everyone if I tried to help." Nagito said, the ever present smile on his face never fading. "A lowly artist like me wouldn't have been any help at all." 

Dear god, we actually have to put up with him. "Well, I wasn't much help either." I said, though I didn't know why. To comfort Nagito?

"And neither was Fuyuhiko." Hiyoko snickered. "The poor loser stayed in his dorm all day!"

Fuyuhiko just rolled his eye. "Are we done here?"

"Not yet!" Taka shouted. "Shuichi, Sayaka, and I still need to report on what we found!"

"We tried to find any sort of ways to communicate with the outside world, but we couldn't find anything!" Sayaka explained. "No computers, no Internet, nothing."

"We also tried to open the giant metal vault in the main hall." Shuichi continued. "But it didn't even budge. Granted, I don't think us three are that strong."

"We also discovered gates in front of stairs!" Taka exclaimed. "We couldn't lift them up, or find a key!" 

"... That's it." Sayaka said after some silence. 

"Is that everyone, then?" Tsumugi asked, looking around for anyone that hasn't said anything. 

The silence answered her question. 

"Then I guess we should probably go talk about what's going on." Junko said. "Any ideas?"

"Umm..." Makoto looked like he was about to say something. "I don't have an idea, but I noticed something weird." 

"Like...?" Junko egged him on. 

"Well... when I was calming my dogs down, I noticed that they looked... older. Older than when I first walked into Hope's Peak that is." Makoto explained. "I don't exactly know how much they aged, but it's apparent that some time has clearly passed since then." 

"So that must mean that the time between us entering Hope's Peak and us waking up was more than an hour?" Kotoko wondered out loud. "That's good to know." 

"Any one else discover some interesting time gap issues?" Sayaka asked. 

"I did!" Hiyoko said. "It looked like I went through some sort of growth spurt." She looked down at her body. "Before entering Hope's Peak, I was around 4'2. I didn't even notice it until I saw my reflection in a mirror, but I grew so much!"

"How much did you grow?" I asked. 

"Do I look like I have a ruler you sticky prickly bitch?!" Hiyoko yelled at me. "I don't know!"

"Just what is going on?" Ibuki questioned, swaying from side to side. "Ibuki is clueless!"

It was like Ibuki read my mind. What is going on? Why is this going on? Who is doing this? 

My train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a bell doing the "Big Ben" tune. The same one that played when the silhouette of Monokuma showed up on the monitor while we were in the main hall together. 

Monokuma did show up, but not as a silhouette. His image was as clear as day as sat in a chair he held a wine glass in his paw. 

"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement." Monokuma said through the monitor. "It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then... sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..." The monitor then shut off.

"I guess we're spending the night here." Peko said. 

"We should head to our dorms before the doors are locked." I said. "Let's meet up again first thing in the morning." 

There were murmurs of agreement as we all left the dining hall and went to our respective dorms. 

I looked at each dorm, wondering which one was mine until I came across a door that had an 8-bit sprite of myself on it. 

"Night, Mukuro." I heard Junko say. 

"Night, Junko." I said as I tried to open the door. 

Emphasis on tried. The door was locked. 

"What the hell?" I tried again, but to no avail.

"What's wrong?" Junko asked, noticing my difficulty. 

"It's locked." I answered. "Oh yeah, I don't have a key! Where did you guys get your keys?"

"They were in the rooms when we first entered them." Junko sighed and slapped her forehead. "Someone else has your key." 

"Not you?" I asked nervously. 

Junko shook her head. "I tried to take you to your dorm when you were passed out, but I had the same result."

"But why would they steal that?" I asked. "What good would it do in... in murdering me?" 

"I don't know, but you can't sleep out here. How about you stay with me tonight?" Junko smiled at me and extended her hand. "It'll be just like old times." 

We haven't slept in the same bed ever since we were homeless, which was over a decade ago. Huddling for warmth in the same blanket to combat the freezing cold, hiding from creepy old men. 

I guess this situation is as dangerous. 

I took her hand. "Just like old times." 

At least there's one silver lining to all of this. 

/\/\/\/\

We woke up to that dumb Big Ben jingle. Despite having a pillow over my face, I could feel the grin of Monokuma from the monitor. 

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over!" He said in his stupid peppy voice. "Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

Was his voice always that annoying or am I just cranky from waking up?

"Muku," I heard Junko say, "get up."

"No." I whined and curled into a ball. 

"Muku. We have to get out of here." 

"5 more minutes."

"Do you want to wake up all wet again?"

I sat up as much as possible. "Oh, boy. What a great day to wake up to!" I threw the pillow at Junko, who caught it. Damn you, assassin powers. 

"Yeah, yeah. Get dressed. I need to tell you something." 

I did so, my only choices still being in Junko's style. I guess that means my room is still locked. 

"What's up?" I asked. 

"So remember when I told you that I thought someone was suspicious a while ago?" Junko asked. 

Jesus, that was less than a day ago, it felt like years since then. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I believe that they're the one orchestrating this whole thing. You know," she gestured everywhere, "all of this horseshit." 

"Not that I don't doubt you," Junko was more adept at reading people and discovering their weak points. It's what made her such an amazing assassin, "but are you sure it's someone we've met yet? This 'mastermind?'"

Junko nodded. "I am. I've seen that look in so many faces before, the face when they're up to something. I saw it yesterday, before Monokuma even announced the killing game." 

"Are you going to tell me who it is?" I said impatiently. "I can't help you if I don't know who you're talking about."

Junko glanced at something before her eyes fell back to me. I followed her gaze to see the surveillance camera in her room. "Ah."

"Maybe when we find someplace that doesn't have a camera, then we can probably talk, but for now, let's just play their game. Talk to people, form bonds with them, all that stuff." 

"Alrighty then. Who do you think is safe?"

"Anyone at the moment. No one's ballsy enough to make a move on the first day." Junko walked to the door. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to treat myself to some breakfast." And with that she left. 

I wonder who I should talk to.

/\/\/\/\

I rang the doorbell, hoping she would answer if she was in her dorm room. 

The door opened to reveal exactly who I wanted to see. 

"Yessssssss?" Ibuki asked as she leaned on the door frame with a giant smile. 

"I was just wondering if you would like to get to know each other." I said. 

"Of course! While we do that, how would you like Ibuki to make that outfit of yours actually fit you?" 

So the next hour or two was spent in Ibuki's dorm using her sewing kit to make the outfit Junko loaned me into something more of my own. 

As we sat down on Ibuki's bed after finishing, Ibuki started to raise her hand. "Hey, hey Muuukuro! Hurry up and pick me!"

"Umm. Ok. Yes, Ibuki?" I asked.

"Have you ever cosplayed before?" 

"No, not really." Which was true. I never really got in any TV show or anime, so I very much didn't care enough to cosplay anyone. "Why?"

Ibuki squealed and clapped her hands. "That's a major bingo! You should join Ibuki's cosplay group!"

"I-I should? But I don't know anything about cosplay."

"Oh, don't worry about that!" She playfully pushed me. "You can just commission what you need until you know what you're doing."

"But how would I know what I'm doing?"

"Why, Ibuki will teach you, of course! And besides, as long as your heart is into being the character, it doesn't matter how amazing your outfit is!"

I just decided to play along for now. "I guess I could try?" 

"Alright! Now, what would you like to specialize in? Ibuki already has dibs on clothing, so you can't pick that!"

I thought about it. What would be more up my field? "Umm... how about props?"

"Oooh, nice choice, Mukuro. They don't even require much work, just a wagonload of hot glue!"

I'm pretty sure she just insulted so many cosplayers. 

"Now, we are going to practice posing!"

"W-we are?!"

"Well, duh! Cosplayers do photo shoots all the time! You need to know how to embody the character!"

So we spent the afternoon posing, which was so exhausting I nearly passed out. After Ibuki passed out, I decided to head back to Junko's room.

/\/\/\/\

"Hey, Muku." Junko said as I entered her room. "I saw you hang out with Ibuki today. How was it?"

"It was interesting." I then told her the entirety of what happened while Ibuki and I were together. "She may be weird and obnoxious. but at least she's nice."

"That's what I gathered as well." Junko said. "And I see that she helped you fit into my clothes." 

We were interrupted by the familiar jungle came on screen. 

It was Monokuma again, saying the same thing, again. 

"Oh, it's the same thing every time?" I asked to no one in particular. 

"Apparently." Junko huffed. "That's really boring."

"Let's go to sleep then." 

"Ok." We both got into the bed. "Good night."

"Good night."

/\/\/\/\

I woke up on the floor. 

I wasn't too surprised. Junko always did hog the bed. 

"Morning, asshole." I said after Monokuma's morning announcement. "Did you enjoy kicking me off the bed."

"Is that even a question?" Junko said through a yawn. "Did you at least sleep well?"

I nodded. I always was a heavy sleeper; it didn't surprise me when I didn't even open an eye when I fell off the bed. "Yeah. Being on the floor reminds me of when I would lay down outside somewhere and watch nocturnal bugs wake up."

"It's a shame there aren't any bugs here." Junko said, though she clearly didn't agree with what she said. 

"Well anyway," I stood up, "I'm planning on getting to know our classmates some more today. Any suggestions?" 

Junko shook her head. "Nope. Just trust your gut. But maybe not Ibuki again. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, as they say." 

"Good to know. Let's get some breakfast."

/\/\/\/\

I had a pleasant breakfast. Junko and I talked some more, and Ibuki even joined in, saying Junko would be great for cosplay. It was a great opportunity for me to leave the conversation to clean off my plate full of crumbs, so I took it. 

"Hello, Tsumugi." I said as I walked by to drop the plate in the sink. "How's you sleep?"

"I slept rather plainly." She answered. "Though that's good considering what's going to happen today." 

"Oh?" My mind was no longer on cleaning the plate as I stopped walking to the kitchen and faced Tsumugi. "What's going on today?"

"Kotoko and I are going to spar today." 

"Y-you are?" I couldn't believe what she was saying. "But what if you get hurt? Or worse?" 

"Oh, relax." Tsumugi had quite the bubbly giggle for someone who would take over a criminal empire someday. "We are just going to see who gets hit first, not a full blown fight. And we'll have Makoto tend to any wound we have." 

"Makoto?" I was taken aback by that answer. How would a breeder help with wounds? "Why him?"

"Well, he says he had experience in patching up animal injuries, and even injuries that humans got from the animals he trained." Tsumugi explained. "So unless you know of anyone else with medical training, he seems to be the most qualified." 

"I'm afraid I don't know anyone, but I'm sure Ibuki would be willing to help with any tears you guys get in your outfits." 

Tsumugi smiled so brightly that I had to blink a couple of times. "That's a great idea! Would you like to watch as well?"

"I don't see why not. It's not like I have anything else to do at the moment." 

"Great! It's just after breakfast at the gym."

So after breakfast, I helped Tsumugi, Kotoko, and Makoto set up in the gym.

"Alright, Shirogane." Kotoko unsheathed her sword, to reveal a clean, sharp, silver blade with a pink grip. "Don't hold back."

Tsumugi tossed the knife she grabbed from the kitchen in the air and caught it. "I won't if you won't."

And then it begun. 

A was like a whirlwind of blades and feet. When one would go to attack, the other would block, and vice versa. It was both mesmerizing and nerve-wracking to watch. 

"Why must I be one one with most medical expertise?" Makoto whined as he covered his eyes. "I don't wanna watch this!" 

"Then don't." I put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll let you know when you're needed." 

"Thank you." Makoto turned his back to the fight.

A couple minutes later, Kotoko hissed in pain as she clutched her forearm. "Makoto! Some assistance please." 

Makoto snapped to attention. "Oh! Right! That's my job!" He ran to Kotoko to examine the wound. 

"Wow, good job." I walked up to Tsumugi. 

"Well, I am part of the mafia, after all." Tsumugi said. "I know my way around a blade and a gun."

"Wow, you got really lucky." Makoto said as he held up Kotoko's forearm. "She didn't cut as deep as I thought she did. You just need a bandage and it should heal in a couple of days as long as you're gentle with it—"

Kotoko froze, tensing up when Makoto said that. "Gentle?" She said through heavy breaths.

"Yes?" Makoto said, not knowing the situation. "Are you okay, Koto—"

Kotoko broke Makoto's grasp on her arm as she started to kick and scream on the floor. "N-no! Please don't be gentle! Anything but that!"

I was confused as Makoto was when I remembered. 

Junko said something about "gentle" triggering some traumatic events in Kotoko's life when we first met her.

Kotoko was sobbing at this point. "Not gentle! I'll do anything! But please... don't!"

I ran up to Makoto before he could make anything worse. "Say you won't be gentle."

"W-what?" Makoto asked. "W-why?" 

"Gentle is a trigger word for her. Just say it!" I said, hoping it would calm Kotoko down.

"Alright!" Makoto turned to Kotoko. "Don't worry. I won't be gentle. I promise!" 

When he said that, Kotoko visibly started to calm down. Her breaths slowed, and her kicking came to a stop. 

"We should probably take her to her dorm room." Tsumugi said. 

We escorted Kotoko to the safety to her dorm room, where Makoto volunteered to stay with her until she calmed down completely, so we left it at that. 

We should tell everyone to not say "gentle" in front of Kotoko. Maybe that would help. 

/\/\/\/\

After telling everyone about what transpired, I was in the dining hall looking for a snack. 

"Hey, Mukuro?" A voice behind me called out. 

I turned around to see it was none other than Shuichi Saihara. He had his cap down low to cover his eyes, but not the smile that was creeping along his face. 

"Oh, hey Shuichi." I smiled back and turned to him. "What's up?"

"W-well... I was just wondering if you had a tour of the building yet. I know you passed out, so you didn't explore with us, so... yeah." He was avoiding eye contact as much as possible. 

I shrugged. "Sure, why not? I need to pass the time somehow."

So after I finished my snack, we exited the dining hall and made our way around the building in comfortable silence until Shuichi nervously coughed.

"I'm sorry if the silence is awkward. I was never really the best at making conversation." He scratched the back of his head and looked down at the ground. 

"Don't worry." I assured him. "I don't have much social skills either. Junko stole them from me while we were still in the womb."

"At least you have her to guide you." Shuichi sighed. "Having a sibling must be nice."

"Well, it's not all fun and games. She once sat on my face until I passed out." 

Shuichi looked at me like I just said I was on drugs. "And suddenly I'm glad I'm an only child." He said with an nervous laugh. 

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something." I said, hoping Shuichi wouldn't be offended. 

He looked at me expectantly. "Go on." 

"Are you actually lucky?" 

Shuichi stopped dead in his tracks, his face unreadable. 

Wrong thing to say! Abort! "I-I'm sorry!" I quickly said. "I didn't m-mean to offend you!"

"It's alright." He looked at me with a small smile. "It's just... I don't think I am lucky."

"Really?" I asked. It wasn't that surprising. No one would be lucky to end up in a place like this, so maybe that's why Shuichi is thinking that. "Why is that?"

"Well..." I could practically hear the gears turning in Shuichi's brain, "it's hard to explain, but you know Newton's Third Law." 

I nodded. "Every action has its equal opposite reaction, yeah." 

"Well... it's sort of like that. Whenever I experience some sort of good luck, someone around me experiences bad luck, and vice versa."

I just stood there. Is something like that even possible? Is someone being blessed with luck even a thing? "Huh." I said after contemplating those thoughts. "That's... weird."

"You don't believe me?" Shuichi let out a laugh. "I get that. I had a hard time believing it's myself. But after a bunch of trial and error experiments I conducted, that's the conclusion I've come to."

"It's not that!" I quickly said, hoping not to make him feel any worse. "I just think it's interesting. Do you know of anyone else with the same luck as you?" 

Shuichi shook his head. "No, I don't think so." He started to frown and look at the ground again. "It's rather lonely actually." 

I looked at him with pity in my eyes. I'm sure finding no one with the same experience at you would be rather lonely. I decided to hold his hand. "Well, now you have me." 

Shuichi looked at me, and I finally got a good look at his eyes. He did have really nice eyelashes, but the eyes themselves were like stormy clouds. "R-really?"

I nodded. "I might not be the best at social interaction, or even know what you're going through, but... maybe we can learn about both those things together." 

Shuichi didn't break eye contact with me, but I couldn't read his expression. Granted, I wasn't that good at reading people. That was more Junko's forte.

Shuichi then pulled his hand from my grip. "I-I should go." And with that he walked away. 

"Dammit, Mukuro." I muttered to myself as I walked to Junko's room. "Way to scare a potential friend off."

/\/\/\/\

After Junko and I woke up to Monokuma's morning announcement, we heard the doorbell ring. 

"I got it." I said. Junko was in the shower, after all, so I didn't have much of a choice. I opened the door to reveal none other than Ibuki. 

"Good morning Ibuki." I greeted. "Junko's in the shower at the moment, in case you're wondering where she is."

"Good nom nom nomming, Mukuro!" Ibuki said with her usual cheery tone. "Taka told Ibuki to tell you and Junko that you should come to the dining hall as early as possible!"

"Got it. Just let me tell Junko and I'll be good to go." I said as I closed the door. 

"Ibuki will see you there!" She said through the creek of the door. 

I knocked on Junko's bathroom door. "Hey! We're meeting in the dining hall. Come as soon as possible!" I shouted through the door not caring if she heard me.

I arrived at the dining hall, and Junko followed suit a little bit later, making her the last person to arrive.

"How are you feeling, Kotoko?" I asked. "All better?"

Kotoko nodded. "Yep! Makoto's dogs really cheered me up after the whole ordeal, which nearly outweighs the pain in my arm!" She said as if the PTSD episode never happened. 

Makoto nodded. "I'm actually training Kare to be a service dog!" He said. "I'm sure she will come in handy for these kinds of situations." 

"Alright! Can I have everyone's attention, please?" Taka shouted. "Okay! I would like all of us to meet here for breakfast every morning so we can further our trust and cooperation with each other! What do you think?"

"You dragged me here for that shit?!" Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes. "I'm going back to bed." He stood up an left the dining hall. 

Mahiru scoffed. "Well I think that's a great idea, Taka. You're much more reliable than that stuck up prince." 

"Does it have to be after the announcement?" Hiyoko yawned. "Can't it be around 12 or something?"

"I mean," Sayaka drummed her fingers on the table, "it's been a while since I've eaten with people."

"Same here." Nagito nodded. "I think it would be a great use of our time to build our bonds with each other as well as use our hope to overcome this dire situation." 

"While we're all here," everyone's attention turned to me, and I suppressed the urge to shrink in my seat, "did anyone find anymore clues on what's going on?"

The silence spoke for itself. 

"Okay..." I said, not knowing how to react to that. "How about any theories?" 

The was a whisper in the midst of all the silence, but I didn't catch who whispered. 

"Did you say something, Shuichi?" Peko asked. 

"W-well..." Shuichi spoke, a little louder but still hushed. "I have a theory, but I wouldn't want to get anyone's hopes up." 

"Just spit it out already, you emo loser!" Hiyoko shouted. 

Ironically, that made Shuichi sit up in his seat more. "Well, this is under the assumption that Monokuma has been telling the truth, since he keeps on insisting his hate for lying. It was already confirmed that he was telling the truth about endless food, so it—"

He was interrupted by the sound of sadistic laughter that echoed all throughout the dining hall. 

Junko banged her head on the table. "For fuck's sake." I heard her mumble. "Not this shit right now."

Monokuma rose up from the floor. "Aww, did you miss lil' old me?"

"As if!" Miu huffed. "Why don't you piss off, you dumb virgin!"

Monokuma sighed. "Wow, I come to give you all a gift. And this is how you treat me?" He turned his back to us. "So cruel."

"Gift?" Makoto asked. "What gift?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" Monokuma ditched the sad act and replaced it with the usual annoying peppyness. "Why, it's motive, of course!"

"A motive?" Junko asked, seemingly unimpressed. "That's a lousy gift."

"Yeah, at least give us gummies or something!" Hiyoko stared daggers into Monokuma, which didn't seem to affect him. 

"Well, I've been thinking: why hasn't anyone killed yet, and then I realized! It's because you guys haven't been given a motivation to leave! And I have come to fix that." Monokuma bowed in a mocking manner. "No need to thank me."

"Oh, don't worry." Mahiru said through nervous laughter. "We won't be thanking you for anything."

"Oh!" Monokuma managed to snap his fingers. How? I wouldn't know; I was too busy resisting the temptation to throw the damn bear into the sun. "That reminds me! I have a video to show you guys!"

"Quit changing the subject!" Sayaka said, fiddling with her camera like a fidget toy. 

"It's a special video for each of you!" Monokuma exclaimed, ignoring Sayaka. "It will show what's going on outside the school!"

"Outside the school?" Makoto asked, petting Kuroba to soothe his nerves. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, why don't you watch it and find out?" Monokuma said. "There's a room here that would allow you to watch it."

"Before we do that..." Shuichi stood up from his seat, attempting to make eye contact. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"Aww, but why would I tell you that?" Monokuma pouted. "Watching you guys scramble to uncover the truth is so fun! I'd hate to get in the way of that sort of entertainment!" He sunk back down into the floor with maniacal laughter trailing him. 

"He's gone..." Sayaka said. 

"We noticed that already!" Hiyoko crossed her arms. "Are you blind or something?"

"Well at least he won't stand in the way of investigating this place." I muttered. 

"So what about the video?" Junko asked. "I'm honestly very curious to see it." 

"Same here." I stood up. "I'll go check it out, okay?" I don't even know why I said that. I was scared shitless of what that video would contain. I guess I just wanted to prove myself to everyone here, but I don't know. 

"It's not safe to walk around this place alone." Peko said. "Someone should tag along with Mukuro." 

Ibuki raised her hand. "Pick Ibuki! Pick Ibuki!" She started shouting. 

"Hey Ibuki," I said, playing along, "would you like to go with me?"

"Of course!" She stood up from her seat, linked her arm in mine, and dragged me out of the dining hall. 

"W-wait!" I desperately said. "W-where are we g-going?"

"To the A/V room!" Ibuki said, slowing her pace a little. "That's the only place Ibuki could think of that had the equipment to watch videos." 

The A/V room... I tried to remember where it was from Shuichi's tour yesterday. It was the last room we entered before he ran off. 

"Oh, I know where that is." I said. 

"Me too!" Ibuki giggled. "We have so much in common."

/\/\/\/\

The A/V room was the same as last time. Lots of computers, a boom box, a lot of chairs, the only thing different was...

"Look!" Ibuki held up a cardboard box. Inside were DVDs with all our names labeled on one. 

"This must be the video for each of us that Monokuma mentioned." I muttered. "Hey Ibuki, do you mind getting the others?"

Ibuki saluted. "Right away, Mukuro!" She said before jogging out of the A/V room. 

I felt around the cardboard box, searching for the DVD with my name. Miu? No. Tsumugi? No. 

After what felt like an eternity, I found mine. I popped it into the computer and watched the video. 

Big mistake.

It started out alright. It was a video from my scientist friends back in Europe. We all worked together at the Fenrir Research Facility. They were like a second family to me.

"I'm so happy for you!" Said one of my friends from the video. She was Kylie Sharons, and she was a botanist; we always worked together on if different types of nectar affected both bugs and plants alike. "Be sure to bring me one of those cherry blossoms when you come back!"

"And make sure to let us know if anyone is bullying you!" Said the muscular man known as Klaus Brown, who cracked his knuckles. "I will fuck them up for you!" You never would've guessed that he's a geologist from his looks. 

"Don't forget to say hi to your sister for us!" Said Jordan Yashka; my fellow entomologist. "Best of luck!"

But then the video glitched. And instead of showing me my friends gushing about me, it showed the FRS torn apart. It looked abandoned and like someone broke in. 

"W-what the?" I managed to say through my quick breaths. 

"Mukuro Ikusaba," said the dreadful voice of Monokuma through the speakers. "The Ultimate Entomologist. The friends she made in Europe were nothing but supportive of her when she was accepted into Hope's Peak Academy. But it looks like... uh oh! Something happened to the Fenrir Research Facility! The horror! What could have possibly happened to such a prestigious laboratory?!"

The screen turned pitch black and showed six dreadful words: Look for the answer after graduation. 

I have to get out of here. 

"Mukuro?" 

I turned away from the screen to see that everyone else arrived. 

"Are you okay?" Sayaka asked. "What happened."

I wordlessly pointed to the box full of DVDs. 

One by one, everyone got their DVDs. One by one, everyone sat down and watched their DVDs. One by one, everyone started freaking out. 

"S-so this is what Monokuma meant by motive." Junko said, desperately trying to keep her cool. "He wants to increase our w-want to leave so we're more likely to consider the Graduation Clause..."

"W-well it looks like it's working." Tsumugi said. "Now I really w-want to leave!"

"It l-looks like Monokuma also w-wants to think th-that someone would betray us." Mahiru said, hugging herself. "Or even worse..."

"Don't put those awful thoughts in our head!" Taka berated. "That's what he wants us to do!"

"You're saying that now," Miu said, "but maybe you're just trying to get our guard down s-so you could—"

"That's enough!"

We all turned to Hiyoko, who seemed done with everyone.

"Monokuma is using a very stupid tactic, and you all are falling for it like idiots!" She shouted, her usual teasing demeanor was replaced with a furious tone. "You let one shitty thought worm into your minds, and you go crazy! This is the kind of tension that breaks people!"

"Can you blame us?" Makoto said, though it was barely audible. "Our loved ones were on those monitors." 

"And we will find out what happened to them when we get out of here, and to do that, we need to stop falling for these shitty psychological tricks!" Hiyoko continued with a huff. "Honestly, that tactic is used throughout history tons of times, and only cultures and countries weak enough to believe that shit are left in the dust. Are you guys weak?"

Stunned silence. I never thought someone like Hiyoko would say that. Or that she even cared. 

But then again, she is the Ultimate Anthropologist. I wouldn't put it past her if she studied tactics that broke people. 

"Some of us aren't strong like you, Hiyoko." Shuichi whispered, cap covering his entire face at this point. "I know I'm not." 

Hiyoko sighed and walked up to Shuichi, the latter desperately trying to avoid eye contact. It's weird seeing how despite Hiyoko being short than Shuichi, Shuichi looked like the one who was feeling small. 

Without a word, Hiyoko stole the hat on Shuichi's head. "H-hey! What are you—" 

"You have to stop hiding behind this like a little baby!" Hiyoko said, pulling the cap out of reach from Shuichi. "If you're not strong, then get strong. You won't survive in this world if you can't handle fucking eye contact." She slammed the cap on Shuichi's chest then walked out of the A/V room, leaving us in stunned silence. 

"I-it's almost nighttime..." Kotoko said. "W-we should probably head to our dorms."

We left without about her word being spoken. 

/\/\/\/\

"What did you video have?" Junko asked the minute we closed the door to Junko's dorm. 

"My friends at Fenrir." I said quickly. "Yours?" 

"My assassin mentor." She said. "It's weird. We weren't even that close to each other. I guess the Mastermind had no other alternatives, since you are already in this shithole with me." 

"Wow, comforting." I said, letting out a poor excuse of a laugh. "Also, I didn't expect that speech to come from Hiyoko of all people." 

"Well let's just hope that who ever was thinking about killing someone was intimidated into not killing someone." Junko plopped down on her bed. "She didn't pull any punches." 

"Yeah..." I sat down next to her. 

"What's wrong?" Junko asked, putting a hand on my back. 

"I-it's nothing. I just... feel so useless." I put my head in my hands. "I've done literally nothing to help get out of here. I can't even get in my own room." 

Junko engulfed me in a hug. "Look, Mukuro... you haven't done nothing... you're one of the people keeping our heads above water. I see how happy Ibuki is to see you, how you helped Kotoko out of her trigger episode, and how happy you make me." She kissed my head. "You might not be strong enough to rip those metal plates from the windows, but you're strong enough to keep our morale up." 

"But I'm not even that good at social interaction." I argued, fighting back any tears that would come loose. "How can I do that when I can't even get social cues?" 

"You don't need to learn social cues, Muku." Junko cupped my face in her hands forcing me to look at her. "You just need to be yourself. And if they don't like you being yourself, just flip them off." 

I let out a laugh, which ironically causing me to fail withholding my tears as they came crashing down. "But I'm not strong like you, Junko. I don't know how to flirt, or read people, or even stand up for myself." I said through my sobs. "All I'm good at is being a bug freak." 

"Hey, I'm the only one allowed to call you a bug freak." Junko smiled as she wiped the tears from my face. "And that's a great thing to like. I know I get all squirmy when bugs crawl on me, but I see how happy you are when you let caterpillars crawl on you, or when you talk about the different life cycles of bugs. And that's amazing." 

"Thanks..." I said, continuing to sob in her arms. I sobbed for what felt like hours. Then sobs turned to sniffles, and sniffles turned to yawns. "Man, crying makes you tired." 

Junko laughed. "Let's go to sleep, alright?" 

"Okay. I love you, Junko."

"I love you Mukuro."

/\/\/\/\

The next morning, I woke up to the Monokuma announcement and the sound of the shower turning on in the bathroom. 

"Morning, Junko!" I called out to her, hoping she'd hear me in the bathroom door. She didn't answer, but she rarely does while she's in the shower. "I'll be in the dining hall!" I shouted again as I left. 

"Morning, Mukuro!" Makoto said with a smile. "Where's Junko?" 

"She's taking a shower, so she’ll be a while.” I answered as I sat down next to him. “How’re the dogs?” 

“They’re good.” Makoto raised the dogs up with his hands. “They’re adapting to this situation better than I am, at least.” 

More people came in as Makoto and I talked. 

“Yeah, Kare is—“ Makoto stopped his train of thought as his eyes widened. “Tsumugi, are you okay?”

I followed his eyes to see Tsumugi, gripping her wrist as she hissed in pain. “Oh, I’m alright.” 

“What happened?” I asked. “Did you and Kotoko fight again?” 

“No.” Tsumugi said with a smile. “I just think Kotoko managed to stab me first during the spar and I didn’t realize.” 

“How would you not realize that?” Hiyoko asked, butting into the conversation. “Are you that blind?”

“No, I’m just used to this kind of pain I guess.” Tsumugi shrugged. “You know, me being a criminal and all.” 

The rest of us talked some more as more people entered the dining hall. Everyone was acting like to motive video never even happened. 

“Hey, Mukuro,” Nagito asked, “do you know where Junko is?” 

“Last I checked, she was taking a shower.” I answered. “Why?” 

“I’m just... worried about her.” He said with a a shrug. “With the whole motive video yesterday, one would jump to harsh conclusions.” 

The whole table seemed to tense up. 

“What?” Nagito asked. “I can’t be the only one thinking that.” 

“While I understand you concern, Nagito,” I started, “I heard the shower turn on this morning, so unless someone else was in the shower, it’s probably her.” 

“Oh yeah!” Mahiru snapped her fingers as she remembered something. “You guys have been sharing a room ever since we got here, right?”

“Really?” Miu said, a mischievous smirk on her face. “Did you guys have a fun night?”

I gagged. “Ew! God no!” I screamed. “She’s my twin sister!”

Miu seemed taken aback, like she didn’t expect my reaction. “I’m s-sorry.” She said, practically trembling.

“Jesus, your mind is in the gutter.” Hiyoko rolled her eyes. “An ugly mind that fits your ugly body I suppose.” 

“Anyway...” Mahiru turned her attention back to me. “Why have you been sharing a room?” 

“Because I can’t get into my room.” I waved my fork around for emphasis. “For some reason, someone stole the key to my room, so I’ve been staying with Junko.” 

“Really?” Shuichi asked. “That’s weird, isn’t it?” 

“You’re telling me.” I leaned back in my seat. “But it’s whatever.” 

Some more time passed, and everyone was talking away, which is good when you have to work together to leave here. 

But Junko never came. 

It was weird. 

“I’m going to check up on Junko.” I said, excusing myself as I exited the dining hall. 

I was making my way to the room when something caught my eye. 

My dorm room was open. 

It was open just a smidge, so I couldn’t see inside, but it was open nonetheless. 

Why is it open. 

“Junko can wait.” I said as I opened the door enough for me to enter my dorm room for the first time. 

And the first thing I saw, was a corpse on the bed. Needles were stuck in the eyes, and blood was spewing from the neck. 

It was the corpse of my dear twin sister: Junko Enoshima.


	3. To Survive: Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some accusatory looks and claims, Mukuro investigates the murder of her twin sister. With Ibuki’s help, will she be able to find enough evidence to clear her name?

Being the person with common sense that I am, I screamed my lungs out. 

I screamed and screamed and screamed for what felt like days. 

Junko Enoshima was dead. 

My twin sister, my best friend, the one who inspired me to become an entomologist, the one who kept me going in this situation, was dead. 

Her eyes were mutilated beyond comprehension, and her neck was covered in blood much like the bed she way laying on. She was in a sitting position with her back propped up against the headrest. 

I sunk to my knees and started sobbing. If it weren't for the sound of footsteps hampering my train of thought, I probably would've started praying to whoever would listen that this was a shitty joke. 

"Mukuro! What's going on?" I saw Ibuki in my peripheral vision walking towards me. "Are you—?"

"WHAT THAT FUCK?!" I heard Miu scream. 

A cacophony of screams rose up as they all saw Junko's dead body. I guess that meant that this is real and I wasn't hallucinating. 

In the midst of all the freaking out, I heard a jingle come from the monitor. It wasn't the same as the morning or nighttime announcements, but it caused my body to shiver in fear all the same. 

I rose up and faced the monitor, doing my best to look into the eyes of the monster that caused my sister to be killed. 

The aforementioned bear showed up on the monitor. "A body has been discovered!" He said in his cheerfully sadistic tone of voice. "Everyone, please make your way to the gym immediately!" The monitor shut off. 

"Mukuro?" Ibuki placed a hand on my shoulder. "We should go to the gym." 

I slowly nodded, comprehending everything that happened this morning. I heard the water turn on that morning. How could she be dead? She's smarter than that. 

I tried to move, but it was like my feet were held down by cinderblocks. It was taunting how I couldn't even turn away from my sister's dead body. 

"Come on." Ibuki urged me. "Ibuki will help you." 

I didn't say a word the entire walk to the gym.

/\/\/\/\

"Earth to Mukuro Ikusaba!" Said a voice followed by a couple finger snaps in my face. 

I shook from my trance to see Makoto in front of me. 

"What?" I said, though it came out harsher than I wanted it to. 

"Look," Makoto sighed, trying to find the right words to say to me, "I can't say I know what you're going through, nor can I tell you what to do in this situation, but you need to focus right now, okay?" His hand touched mine and stayed there to see if I would reciprocate or pull away. "Can you do that for us?"

I sighed, contemplating his words. He was right. Someone murdered Junko. Someone in this very building. I need to focus to root out her killer. If I continue to be any more useless, Junko's death would be in vain. 

I slowly nodded. "I can try." I said, barely a whisper. 

Makoto smiled and pulled Kare out of his hoodie pocket. "Here." He lifted Kare towards me. "She should be able to help you focus and snap you out of any panic attacks or episodes you go through." 

"Oh, um," I awkwardly scooped Kare in my arms. "Thanks." 

"Of course, and uh, you don't have to hold her." He said, taking Kare from my arms and setting her down on the floor next to me. "She'll stay by your side until I tell her otherwise." 

I nodded and bent down to scratch Kare's neck. "Got it." 

Makoto nodded and turned his attention to Sayaka, who I saw was trying to get his attention.

I managed to lift Kare up, which was easy since she was rather small, but I was still inexperienced at holding dogs, so it was was a little awkward. "Hey there, Kare." I said to her. "Are you going to help me today?" 

Kare responded by licking my face, which caused me to giggle. 

"You're no tarantula, but I guess you'll do." I said, readjusting the position I was holding her to one of the ways I saw Makoto carrying her and Kuroba hundreds of times at this point, letting me have a free hand to scratch Kare's back. 

"How are you feeling?" 

I looked up from Kare to see Peko looking at me. "Hey, Peko." I said, setting down Kare. "I'm not doing great, but I need to be strong in order to discover who... did this."

Peko nodded, the ever-present neutral look on her face. "That's understandable, and I'd hate to bring your spirits down even more, but I feel like I should tell you this." 

"Tell me what?" 

Peko looked around, probably wondering if anyone was looking at us, then inched close enough to whisper in my ear: "Everyone's thinking you killed her." 

"W-what?" I looked her straight in her eyes, hoping to see if she was joking, but her blood red eyes didn't give away anything of the sort. "W-why would they think that?" 

"Probably because you said she was in the shower this morning, but in actuality she was dead in your room." Peko explained as if she was chatting over tea. "There's also the fact that she was killed in your room." 

"B-but I did hear the shower turn on this morning!" I tried to explain while holding back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. "A-and I couldn't go into my room! And! A-and—" 

I was interrupted by the feeling of paws on my leg. I looked down to see Kare desperately pawing my leg. I let out a chuckle and lifted her up to lick my face. 

Peko sighed. "I'm not saying you did it, but I'm saying that people are being wary of you, and that you should be careful, alright?" 

I nodded. "Yeah... thank you Peko." 

She nodded with a smile and walked away. 

"You think I'm innocent, right Kare?" I said, scratching her neck some more. 

That's when the sadistic laughter of that bear rang through my ears, causing me to freeze up near immediately. 

"Why, good morning, class!" Monokuma said with a twirl.

I couldn't hold back anymore. 

"You." I growled as I set Kare down on the floor and charged towards the thing that murdered my sister. "How dare you!" I screamed. 

I would've lunged at him if it weren't for two sets of arms holding me back. 

"Let me go!" I screamed. "That thing is the one who murdered my sister! He deserves to rot in hell! He deserves to be strangled!" I was sobbing at this point. "I hate you, Monokuma! I hate you!" 

"Mukuro, you need to stand down." I heard Shuichi say to my left, trying to hold back my body. "I know you're upset, but it's best that we don't break any rules right now." 

"Shuichi's right," Mahiru said on my right, also assisting to restrain me, "I promise, one day you'll be able to hurt him as much as your heart desires, but for right now, you need to stay calm." 

"It's true!" Monokuma said, tempting me to break free. "Violence against the headmaster is strictly prohibited, and unless you want to be reunited with your dearest sister, you should listen to your friends over there!" 

I stopped struggling. They were right. Nothing good will come if I attack Monokuma. I need to stay strong. I need to focus. I need to bide my time. 

I reluctantly relaxed my muscles, letting Mahiru and Shuichi know I calmed down enough to not act brashly. Mahiru put a firm hand on my shoulder; to assure me or to make sure I don't act out again, I couldn't say. 

"As for your claim, I didn't kill Junko." Monokuma continued. "I am a bear of honor, and I would never do anything that involved breaking the rules!" 

"Then who killed her then?" Miu shouted. "You got an answer for that, asshole?!"

"Why, of course I do!" Monokuma said with a little hop. "The one who killed her was... one of you!"

I felt the pawing of Kare in my leg again, keeping me from sinking to my knees. 

One of us... killed Junko? Why? Did the motive videos actually get under someone's skin and decided they would murder her?

"What's the matter?" Monokuma asked innocently. "You guys all look like you're about to see a baby get run over buy an eighteen wheeler! Don't you remember what I told you when this all began?" 

"The graduation clause." Taka said, quieter than usual. He was still loud, but he didn't blast our eardrums off. "Someone here killed Junko so they could graduate!" 

"You...you're lying." Sayaka clutched her camera for dear life. "Y-you have to be!" 

"Nope! I'm sorry," Monokuma said with mock pity, "but one of you just committed some good ol' homicide! If they wanted to, the killer could testify to that!"

I could feel everyone's gazes shift around to look at everyone else. But I just stared into the eyes of Monokuma like my life depended on it. 

"Hey, two face!" I heard Hiyoko say. "If someone actually killed her, then they get to leave the school, right?"

Monokuma cocked his head innocently, like he didn't hear what she just said. It made his face all the more punchable to me. 

"Quit acting stupid, you dumb pig! You said that, and it's even in this stupid E-handbook!" Hiyoko shouted. "So are you going to say something or finally shut up for once?!" 

Monokuma didn't answer. Instead, he started chuckling. Then chuckling turned to giggling, which turned to laughing, which turned to full on cackling. "Oh, you guys are just so naive!"

"And why is that, shithead?!" Fuyuhiko shouted. 

"Did any of you seriously think that I would make it that easy?" Monokuma said in between his laughing fits. "That you could just waltz on outta here?"

"That is what you said," Tsumugi said, "is it not?" 

"Oh, please!" Monokuma's grin widened even more. I didn't even think that was possible. "The real fun is just beginning!" 

"The... real thing?" Makoto said as he clutched onto Kuroba for dear life. 

"Are you ready!?" Monokuma said, barely containing his excitement. "Allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just like I explained before, you must kill someone of you want to leave. However... even if you do that, there's still one more part the the agreement you have to uphold, remember?" 

"That would be the 'unless they are discovered' part, right?" Kotoko asked. 

"Correct!" Monokuma clapped his paws together. "Just killing someone? With no consequence of suspense? That's just boring to watch! Which is why I implemented the class trial!"

"Class trial?" Tsumugi asked, dumbfounded. "You mean, like a jury system?" 

"Sort of! Let me explain." Monokuma cleared his throat. "After a dead body is found by three or more people, the body discovery announcement will play. Then you will have a certain amount of time before the class trial to investigate, come to your own conclusions, collect evidence, whatever you want! Then the class trial will begin. Everyone, even the blackened, will get together and debate on who the murderer is! Once everything comes to an end, or when you all have an answer for who you think the blackened is, you will all vote to who you think the blackened is! And if the majority of votes go to the blackened, only they will be punished, and the rest of the class will continue their communal life. However, if you choose poorly, then everyone but the blackened will be punished, and the blackened will be able to graduate!" Monokuma finished his explanation with poorly done jazz hands. "Any questions?"

"Punishment?" Nagito asked. "What exactly do you mean by 'punishment'?" 

"Great question, Komaeda!" Monokuma answered. "By punishment, I just mean execution!" 

I felt Mahiru's hand on my shoulder squeeze even tighter. "E-execution?!" 

"As in... being hanged?" Kotoko said, her hand ready to unsheathe her sword at a moment's notice. "O-Or electric chair?" 

"Exactly!" Monokuma somehow did finger guns. "I'm glad someone gets what I'm trying to say!" 

"S-so, to make sure I understand..." Taka shivered. "If we get the culprit right, then only they die. But if we get it wrong..." He gulped, trying to get the words out. "All the rest of us get... executed?"

"What a smart little chimpanzee you are!" Monokuma patronized him, if he were taller, I bet he would've pat Taka on the head. "Look at you, implying you didn't do it without saying it!" I could feel Taka's burning rage from ten feet away. "It's basically a 'lay judge' system. Or an inquisition type of thing!"

"I can't..." Shuichi started, hiding in his cap again. "I can't believe you. You're sick." 

"No, I'm Monokuma." Monokuma cleared his throat. "Now, I have something I'd like to give you to help you in your search for the blackened!" He pulled out a black folder. From where, I didn't know. "This is the Monokuma file! It has all the info I've gather about the death of Junko Enoshima." He tossed it us, and it landed on the floor in front of my feet. "While you guys are ultimates, none of you are experts in this sort of thing. There's only so much you can do with a corpse after all."

"Do... do you know who the blackened is?" Sayaka asked. 

"Why of course I do!" Monokuma said with a giggle. "The surveillance cameras pick up everything! If I didn't know who killed Junko, how could I possibly pass a fair trial?" 

"I guess that makes sense..." Peko muttered to herself. "At least if we get it right, Monokuma can confirm it." 

"Now, go on!" Monokuma made a shooing motion. "Investigate, make inferences, collect evidence. After all, your life depends on it!" He sunk into the ground as he laughed at all the despair we were experiencing. 

His laughter was followed by two whole minutes of deafening silence; while I'm not the best at reading people, I could just feel everyone's fear, suspicion, and confusion buzzing around like honeybees. 

"Well," I cleared my throat to unclog whatever tears I had left, "I guess we should start investigating." I picked up the file Monokuma dropped at my feet and was about to open it up when obnoxiousness laughter distracted me. 

"Oh, please!" I looked up to see Miu walking towards me with the determination of a wasp trying to sting someone. "We already know who killed her!" 

"W-we really don't—" Shuichi argued, but it was pointless as Miu pushed him to the side. 

"Shuichi's right." Makoto said, "but just because I'm curious, who do you think did it?" 

Miu scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! Isn't it obvious?" She extended her arm and pointed a finger at me. "It's Pookuro!" 

"M-me?" I stuttered out. I shouldn't have been surprised, for Peko did warn me. But that didn't seem to stop me from widening my eyes and my breathing to speed up. "W-why?" 

"Are you serious?" Miu let out a laugh. "Am I the only one here that isn't a Grade A Idiot? Very well, I'll enlighten you. Mukuro said that Junko was taking a shower this morning, when in reality, she was dead! In Mukuro's fucking dorm room!" 

I was shaking at this point, and Kare's barking and pawing didn't seem to snap me out of it this time. "B-but w-why would I-I go after m-my own sister?" 

"How should I know? You're the one that killed her!" 

"N-no I didn't—!" 

Miu grabbed my shirt and yanked me even closer to her, her icy blue eyes burning with irritation. "If you're not the killer, then who is? Please, feel free to point." 

"I... I don't k-know. I j-just—"

"Woooow." Miu turned to everyone else watching this spectacle happen. "What a great defense, everyone!" She turned back to me. "With all this bullshit that's been coming out of your mouth, I wouldn't be surprised if you started actual shit everywhere, you ugly little—"

"Stop it!" Ibuki pulled me away from Miu and wrapped her arms across my body, acting as a poorly put together shield. "Mukuro is not the killer! A-and Ibuki will prove it at the class trial!" 

Miu was silent after that. I couldn't see her face because I was looking at the floor, but she seemed taken aback before regaining composure. "Fine, then! Go ahead and waste your time. I'm outta here!" I heard the clacking of her heels quiet down, telling me that she left the gym. 

"W-we should start investigating." Kotoko said. 

"But before we do that," Tsumugi interjected, "we should probably decide a method to preserve the crime scene." 

"That's true." Fuyuhiko said. "We wouldn't want the culprit to destroy any evidence." 

"We should put two people on guard duty." Sayaka said. "I'll go. I can even take pictures of the crime scene while I'm there." 

"I'll go as well." Kotoko said, putting a hand on the hilt of her sword. "I could cut anyone who dares destroy the evidence." 

"That leaves the rest of us." Hiyoko said. "Let's split up. We can cover more ground that way and talk about what we found at the class trial." 

Everyone murmured in agreement as they shuffled out of the gym, leaving me and Ibuki. 

"We should go as well, Mukuro." Ibuki held my hand and urged me towards the exit; I reluctantly followed. 

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, my voice hoarse from all the crying. 

"Hm?" Ibuki stopped walking and faced me. "Ibuki doesn't understand." 

"You heard what Miu said back there." I looked into Ibuki's eyes. "Why are you believing in me?" 

Ibuki's concerned frown turned into a comforting smile. "Because we're friends, now! Ibuki knows Mukuro well enough to know that she is going through a lot, and Ibuki would be a lousy friend if she just sat and watched." 

I mustered a smile. "Thank you, Ibuki—" 

Ibuki put a finger to my lips. "Ah, ah, ah. Don't thank Ibuki yet." She continued to pull me out of the gym. "We have to prove your innocence, first!"

/\/\/\/\

"Junko's room?" I asked in disbelief as we stood in front of the door that lead to the aforementioned room. "Why did you take me here?"

"Well," Ibuki put her two pointer fingers together and averted my gaze. "Ibuki didn't quite know if Mukuro wanted to start with where Junko's dead body was." 

"That's true," I unlocked the door to the room and gestured for Ibuki to enter. "You were saying?"

Ibuki took the hint and walked inside as she continued. "Well Ibuki was thinking: how about we start here to see if Junko left anything, then work our way up to the crime scene?" Ibuki turned towards me. "What does Mukuro think?"

"I think that's a good idea." I entered the room. "But before we do that, we should read the Monokuma file to see if there are any clues." I opened up the file. 

"The victim is Junko Enoshima." Ibuki read aloud over my shoulder. "The time of death is estimated to be around 11:30 p.m. The body was discovered in Mukuro's room, in the dormitory. The cause of death was a stab wound to the neck. There victim also seemed to suffer stab wounds in the victim's eyes and a strong blow to the head." 

"That's it? Seriously?" I closed the file in disbelief. 

"Well, Monokuma did want us to investigate ourselves." Ibuki pointed out. "There's no way he'd give us all the answers." 

"That's a fair point." I said, before realizing something. "Is the shower... still on?" I hurried over to the bathroom, which was unlocked, and swung the door open. 

The shower was, in fact, still on. And there was no one inside. 

"How long has the shower been on?" Ibuki questioned, looking around the bathroom for any potential evidence. 

"I heard it turn on during the morning announcement." I turned the shower off. "I had assumed Junko was taking a shower at the time. She always was an early riser, so it wouldn't have surprised me if she woke up before the announcement." 

"But if Junko didn't turn the shower on, then who did?" Ibuki gasped. "Maybe the killer?" 

"Well, if they had murdered Junko, they probably would've had the key to this dorm, and seeing that I'm a very heavy sleeper, it's not impossible." I ran a hand through my hair. "But why would the killer do that?"

"I don't know, but we should keep looking while we think on it." 

"Good idea."

"While we do that, can you tell me the last time you saw Junko alive?" 

"It was yesterday..." I shuddered at the thought. To think that one day, someone is hugging and comforting you, and the next day, they're dead? I'm still comprehending it. 

"Breathe, okay?" Ibuki guided me to the bed and sat down. "Do this for Junko, alright?" 

I sighed, clutching Ibuki's hand. "Alright. It was yesterday, before I went to sleep. She was comforting me after seeing the motive video. When the nighttime announcement played, that's when I went to sleep, and the last I saw of her... alive." 

Ibuki clapped. "I'm so proud of you!" She squeezed me in a big hug. "At this rate, we'll catch the culprit in no time!" 

I chuckled and leaned in on the hug. However, the chuckling came to a stop when I saw something on the table. I walked up to it and picked it up. 

"What does Mukuro see?" Ibuki followed me. 

"It's a key." I answered, keeping my eyes on it. "The key to this room, to be exact." 

It was true. It had the letters J. ENOSHIMA on it and had two keys attached: one for the dorm room itself, and another for the bathroom. 

"What does that mean?" Ibuki questioned. "Does it mean anything at all." 

"I don't know." I put the key in my pocket. "But we should remember this for later. Just in case." 

Ibuki saluted. "Roger that! Is there anything else in here that would be helpful?"

I hummed know thought as I looked around. "I don't think so." I said truthfully. "Where should we investigate next?" 

"Well, other than the crime scene, is there anywhere else that seems of importance?" 

I thought about it. I didn't want to go to the crime scene. Not yet. But I couldn't think of anywhere else that was relevant.

Ibuki read my mind as she smiled. "How about we go in the dining hall and get a snack?"

/\/\/\/\

The dining hall was more crowded than I'd thought it'd be. Apparently a lot of people had the same mindset as me, hoping a snack would help ease their minds in this situation. 

"O-oh! Hey Mukuro!" Makoto waved from the table he Kuroba were sitting at. "Hey Ibuki." 

"Hey, Makoto. Do you mind if we sit with you?" I asked, not noticing that Ibuki already sat down. 

"Of course he doesn't mind!" Ibuki hugged Makoto from the side, clearly making him uncomfortable. "He's our friend!" 

I looked at Makoto, seeing if he would confirm what Ibuki said. 

"I-it's fine by me." Makoto managed to say despite Ibuki crushing his windpipe. 

"So what are you doing here?" I sat down across from him. "If you don't mind me asking." 

"I don't mind." Makoto chuckled and fed some kibble to Kuroba. "I'm just calming down my dogs again. Speaking of which, how's Kare doing?"

"Oh, Kare's doing great." I lifted her up and out her on the table. "She's been helping me a lot. Thank you so much for lending her to me." 

"Of course!" Makoto reach over to pet Kare. "She needs the experience. So what are you doing here?"

"Oh, we're getting a quick snack before heading to the crime scene." I explained. "I need to prepare myself for... you know." My voice was a whisper near the end. 

"Oh... yeah." Makoto frowned. "How have you been taking it so far?" 

"Not good." I said with a nervous laugh. "But I'm surprisingly taking it better than I thought I would. I'm doing my best to stay focused for the investigation. Especially since people are suspicious of me." 

"But it's okay!" Ibuki put her fists to her hips in a hero pose. "Because Ibuki is helping Mukuro find the real killer!" 

"That's very nice of you Ibuki." Makoto said, glancing at me. "Did you discover anything?" 

"Only that someone turned the shower in Junko's dorm in while I was sleeping and that the key to the dorm was still in her room." I answered. "I don't know how that helps. In fact, it only raises more questions." 

"By the way," Ibuki drummed her fingers in the table, "did you happen to see Junko at all last night?" 

Makoto was silent, concentrating on his train of thought. "As a matter of fact, yeah." 

"You did?" I nearly stood up from my seat. "When?" 

"A little after nighttime. I don't remember the exact time though." Makoto scratched the back of his neck. "I was helping Kotoko with her laundry, since her injury was still healing. While we made our way to the laundry room, we passed by Junko." 

"Where was she headed?" Ibuki asked. 

"She said she was going to the dining hall, but seeing that the dining hall is closed at night, she must have been lying." Makoto ruffled up Kuroba's hair. "That was the last I saw her, and I didn't think anything of it until... you know." 

"Why didn't you think much of it?" Ibuki asked. "Surely Junko being out during nighttime must be suspicious." 

"Well, that's because according to Kotoko, she's been walking outside her dorm room ever since before that night." Makoto turned to me. "I'm surprised you didn't know that." 

I felt heat rush up to my cheeks and looked away from Makoto's face. "W-well, I'm a heavy sleeper. It would take a lot of noise to wake me up." 

"If you doubt me, you can always ask Kotoko." Makoto gestured to the dining hall doors. "She would say the same, and maybe even have more to say about seeing Junko than me. She's probably still in your dorm, Mukuro." 

I looked at Ibuki. "Then I think it's best that we make our way there, don't you think?" 

Ibuki nodded. "Ibuki agrees. Thanks for the help, Makoto." 

Makoto smiled. "Of course. And Mukuro,"

I turned to him. "Yes?"

"I... I don't know what you're going through, but," he cleared his throat, "I've been told I'm a great listener, if you ever want to vent. And you're welcome to use Kare any time. Just be sure to let me know first." 

This time, I didn't turn away despite the heat rushing in my face. "Thank you Makoto." I turned to Ibuki. "Shall we?"

/\/\/\/\

I surprisingly took it all in way better than I thought I would. 

Sure, I was clutching onto Kare for dear life and did my best to avoid looking at Junko's corpse, but my breathing was steady and I wasn't stuck in place, so I'd consider that a win. 

"Oh!" Sayaka lowered her camera and flashed a smile. "Hi, guys!" 

"H-hey, Sayaka." I tried to muster the same smile, but it took too much strength. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, this is making me all squeamish inside." Sayaka let the camera test on her hip and walked over to me and Ibuki. "But I'd be even more squeamish if I didn't help at all." 

"Did Sayaka find anything?" Ibuki asked. 

Sayaka put a finger to her chin as she thought about what to say. "Not really, I've mostly been taking pictures." She gestured to her pockets, where I assumed she kept the photos she took. "They're not developed quite yet, but they should be very soon." 

"Good to know." I nodded in acknowledgment. "Anything else we should know about?" 

"Well, I'm sure that it's a given, but no one has tampered with the crime scene ever since we got here!" Sayaka giggled. "Kotoko can attest to that." 

"That reminds Ibuki!" Ibuki snapped her fingers. "We need to talk to Kotoko about when she saw Junko." 

"I'm right here, you know." 

We turned around to see Kotoko standing before us, arm crossed. "What did you say you needed me for?" 

"Well, Makoto said you two saw Junko last night after nighttime." I mentioned. "We just wanted to make sure he was telling the truth." 

Kotoko nodded. "Uh huh, well Makoto is telling the truth. He was helping me out with my laundry due to my forearm being sliced open." She scoffed. "It really hurt. Almost like the time I tripped over a rock and fell onto concrete. Or! Or when I—"

"We can talk about that later." I said, urging her to get back on track. "What about Junko?" 

"Oh yeah, Makoto and I were walking to the laundry room when we saw Junko step out of her dorm." Kotoko swayed from side to side, probably a subconscious thing she does. "Makoto asked Junko what she was doing, and she simply answered that she was going to the dining hall." 

"But isn't the dining hall closed at night?" I asked. 

"Yes, but whenever I saw her during previous nights, she used the same excuse." Kotoko's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "At first I was suspicious, but she didn't y'know, kill or hurt anyone, so I brushed it off for the time being." 

"Did you ever see where she actually went?" Ibuki asked. "Or did you always only see her when she was leaving the dorm." 

"Only when she left the dorm," Kotoko answered, "but whenever she did, I noticed something she always did that confused me." 

"Which was...?" I egged her to go on. 

"She always left the dorm room open." Kotoko crossed her arms. "It was always weird, but I didn't question it. Your sister can be really scary at times."

"Tell me about it." I let out a chuckle. "Anything else you'd like us to know before we start searching for evidence?" 

Kotoko hummed and bounced on her toes. "Let me think..." she shook her head. "Nope! Nothing else. Oh! Wait, I feel like I should tell you that when Makoto and I walked back to our dorms, your dorm was still open. I don't know if that means anything, but I still feel like I should tell you." 

"Great." I sucked in a deep breath. "Now if you excuse us, I'm going to try not to cry at my sister's dead body." 

"Ok..." Kotoko opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Then opened it again. "Best of luck!"

"Let's look around the room first." Ibuki suggested. "Then the body." 

I nodded. "That's probably better for my near nonexistent mental health at the moment." Taking my eyes of Ibuki, the wrecked room immediately caught my attention. "Wow, this place was trashed." 

There were slashes on the wall paper, blood splatters scattered around, some of the furniture, especially the bed, were broken. 

"You can say that again," Ibuki giggled, "I doubt the tool kits in the boys' dorms would even be able to help." 

"Yeah, but why is it wrecked?" I questioned, running my fingers along one of the slashes on the wall. "Maybe it's signs of a struggle? Or the culprit did it to scare Junko?" 

"Probably the former." Ibuki commented. "But what could they have used to slash the walls?" 

I looked around for answer. "Probably the knife." I pointed to the aforementioned knife near the foot of the bed. 

Ibuki followed my gaze. "Ah," she immediately walked over and picked it up. She put the knife rather close to eyes, which was a little concerning. "There's definitely blood on it, but only on the sharp edge." 

I looked over Ibuki's shoulder. She was right. The sharp edge of the knife was the only part that had blood on it, like it was used in a slashing motion. "What do you think that means?" 

Ibuki glanced at the corpse; I didn't follow her gaze. "Ibuki doesn't know, but we should put it on the list." She tossed the knife into the floor. 

"Why did you toss that? And what do you mean—" I stopped when I saw what Ibuki was doing. "...are you writing on your arm?" 

Ibuki nodded. "Yep! There's no way Ibuki could remember all this." She gestured to the marker she was holding. "Found this in the sewing kit in my room. Sure, it's disappearing ink, but it was the only thing Ibuki could find." 

"The sewing kit..." I trailed off. 

"The sewing kit!" Ibuki giggled. "H-hey, what are you doing?"

I made a beeline to the drawer I remembered the sewing kits were usually in. I opened it to see the sewing kit. "So I was correct..." 

"Correct about what?" Ibuki crouched down next to me. "Oh, the sewing kit is open?" 

"Looks like it." I said, taking it out of the drawer. "And it looks like the needles are missing." 

"Oh, that's never a good sign." Ibuki sucked in a breath. "As someone who has lost many needles in her life, most of the time I find them when they're stabbing my feet." 

"Do you know how many needles came in the sewing kit?" 

"Two, why?" 

I sucked in a breath, then let it out in a sigh. I repeated this two more times, then looked over to Junko's corpse. 

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to hold back a scream. She looked at gruesome as she did the first time I saw her just moments ago. Had it been an hour? Or two? I couldn't remember. 

Now's not the time. I'll grieve later when this is done.

I walked over to the corpse and looked directly into the eyes. "Looks like I found them." I pointed out. "They're stuck in Junko's eyes." 

"Well at least we won't have to worry about stepping on the needles." Ibuki said, it I doubt she meant it to be as insensitive as it sounded. Anything else you see?" 

My main focus was on Junko's fatal wound on her neck. The blood that dripped down from it had stopped and dried by now. There wasn't a weapon stuck in the wound to clog the bloodstream, and nothing I know of in the that looks like it could've made this stab wound. 

I turned my attention to the blow on the head, which was just above Junko's right ear, if the blood around the area meant anything. "Do you see anything that could cause a blow to the head?" I asked Ibuki. 

"Hmmm..." I heard Ibuki ponder the question and her footsteps around the room. "How about the table?" 

"The table?" I turned towards Ibuki in disbelief. "How could a table be—"

I saw the table in question. The singular leg that's used to hold the flat part up was broken. And there was a bloodstain on the bottom. 

"Oh." I walked towards Ibuki, who was right beside the table. "That's how." 

"Is there anything else on Junko that you discovered?"

"Nothing that the Monokuma file didn't cover. Is there anything or anywhere else we should investigate?"

"I think we're good for now." Ibuki glanced at the door. "How about we head back to the dining hall and discuss what we've found?" 

"Yes please." I said rather quickly. "I don't think I can stand it in here anymore." 

"Oh! Um, before you go," I heard Sayaka say as she walked to us, "I saw this on the desk behind the bed." She cupped her hands over mine, and I felt a metal object in my hands. She lifted her hands for me to see what she gave me. 

"M-my key?" I said in surprise. It looked exactly the same as Junko's key, only with the letters M. IKUSABA instead of J. ENOSHIMA. 

Sayaka scratched the back of her neck. "I know I probably should've kept it there to preserve the crime scene, but I didn't want to take any chances of someone stealing it." 

"It's alright." I flashed a smile. "Thanks, Sayaka." 

Sayaka reciprocated the smile as she returned back to guard duty. 

"Come one, Mukuro." Ibuki licked her elbow with mine. "Let's go to the—"

The familiar four notes that we heard every morning and every night rang through the room, halting Ibuki's speech. 

Ibuki, Sayaka, Kotoko and I looked at the monitor, expecting Monokuma to show up. "What is it, now?" Kotoko said with a groan. 

"He's probably letting us know that the class trial is about to start." I muttered as Monokuma showed up on screen. 

"So, uh... I'm getting tired of waiting. What say we just get started, hm?" Monokuma said, his voice dripping with boredom. "It's time for the long-awaited... Class trial!" 

"Boo." I heard Ibuki whisper; I had to hold back a laugh so I could hear what Monokuma was saying. 

"Now then, allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings." Monokuma continued. "Please go through the red door on the 1st floor of the school! See you soon!" The monitor shut off. 

"I think I saw that door before." Sayaka said. "It was locked at the time, but I guess we can go through it now." 

"Then let's make our way there." I said, leaving the room as quickly as possible. "Something tells me Monokuma doesn't want us to be late." 

/\/\/\/\

We were the last to arrive. Everyone turned to see us as we entered. 

"What took you so long?" Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes. 

"I bet Pookuro was just getting blue balls because she's about to be unveiled as the murdered!" Miu cackled. 

"Let's not draw any conclusions yet!" Taka boomed. "That's what the class trial is for, right?" 

Ibuki squeezed my shoulder. "Don't worry. You got this!" She said. "I promise, we'll reveal the truth, okay?" 

I nodded and smiled, hoping she wouldn't notice how fake they were. "Okay." 

The monitor started up with no jingle to reveal Monokuma. "Is everyone here?" He asked. "Okay then! Please board the elevator in front of you, which will transport you to the courtroom, where all your dates will be decided." He giggled. "I'll meet you all down there!" The monitor turned off. 

I didn't see it at first due to all the people, but on the opposite side of the room, there was an elevator. It looked big enough to fit all of us, but we'd probably still have to be mindful of our personal space. 

"Looks like we don't have a choice." I said, mostly to myself. "Let's do this." 

/\/\/\/\

It was quiet the entire ride down. Only the deafening sound of the mechanics that moved the elevator made any noise. 

"If it makes you feel any better," Ibuki whispered to me, "everyone seems just as anxious as you. You're not alone here." 

"Yeah..." I scratched my arm as I thought back to last night. "I just hope I'll be strong enough to do what I need to." 

Ibuki smiled. "Exactly. After this, it'll be all over, and you can relax." 

She was right. If I manage to make it out of this class trial alive, then I could head back to my—no, Junko's dorm and collapse. I could scream, I could cry, I could stay in bed until I die of hunger. 

"And I'll be with you every step of the way." Ibuki faced me and put her hands on my cheeks. "I won't let you fight this alone." 

I tore away my gaze to the floor as I looked up at her. "Thank you." I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Thank you for everything."

She shook her head. "Remember what Ibuki said earlier. You can thank her when she proved your innocence." 

"Right, sorry." I let out a hollow laugh.

Ding! 

The elevator opened to a room. 16 stands all in a circle, and Monokuma sitting back on a throne. 

"You finally arrived!" Monokuma waddled to us. "What do you think? Doesn't it just feel like a real courtroom?" 

"It looks more like if a kindergartner had five minutes to design a throne room than anything else." Hiyoko said. "Good to know the mastermind has shitty taste." 

"Alright then, everyone find your assigned seats and sit down, alright? Come on, hurry up!" Monokuma said urgently. He must've been waiting for this moment for a while, now. 

We ended up find our spot within the circle rather quickly, I ended up with Ibuki to my right, then Mahiru, then Shuichi, then Taka, then Tsumugi, then Hiyoko, then Nagito, then an empty stand, then Sayaka, then Peko, then Miu, then Makoto, then Fuyuhiko, then Kotoko, then a portrait of Junko with an x made of blood over her face, then back to me again. 

At least Monokuma blessed me with sitting right next to my emotional support cosplayer. He also sat me right next to Junko, which would've been nice if she was still alive. 

I inhaled a deep breath as I tried to calm myself. If I need to find the killer, I needed to be of sound mind. I couldn't be freaking out, no matter how much I wanted to run out of this courtroom. 

I will find who murdered Junko, and I will make them pay.


	4. To Survive: Class Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Class trial begins. Will Mukuro be able to find Junko’s killer?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I am very sorry for publishing this at a later date. In my defense, I managed to test positive for COVID 19, causing me to be completely bedridden for a while day. So catching up with school and writing this has been a hassle. 
> 
> Despite that, I was surprisingly happy with how this turned out. I know that it’s not the best, but I am just one teenage girl, after all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

"Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma sat on the throne, the elevation causing him meet just above our eye level. "So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out 'whodunnit,' then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!" 

"And the killer really is one of us, right?" Makoto asked, scratching Kuroba. The dog was in his hoodie pocket, making herself as small as possible. 

At least it's good to know that even the dog knows this is fucked up. 

Monokuma let out a giggle as he put his paws in front of his face. "Of course!" 

"Okay then," Taka somehow stood up even straighter as he crossed his arms, "everyone close your eyes, and whoever did it, raise your hand!" 

"Are you for real?" Hiyoko snickered. "Are you really that stupid to think that would work?" 

"Umm," I turned to see Sayaka lazily raise her hand, "can I ask a question? About the trial?" She pointed at the photo of Junko. "What's up with... that?"

"Oh, the photos?" Monokuma swatted his paw in a dismissive motion. "Well, I'd feel awful if they got left out just because they died." His voice wreaked of mock sympathy. "Friendship penetrates even death's barrier."

Miu let out that obnoxious laugh of hers. "Damn right it does! It penetrates all the time!"

"I also have a question." Shuichi turned to the empty seat right across from me. "What's with the empty seat? Isn't there only fifteen of us? Why is there an extra?"

"Oh, no reason." Monokuma rushed to say. "It's just that our little courtroom here can technically fit up to sixteen people. Okay, that about does it for the preamble." 

He was rather quick to change the subject, but I didn't pry. We had bigger problems at the moment. 

"Get ready and get started!" Monokuma watched us all with anticipation. No doubt he was enjoying every single ounce of despair that we were facing. 

"We should start with how Junko ended up in Mukuro's dorm." Peko said, taking initiative. "It's might clear up some questions if we talk about it."

"So we all agree that Junko was murdered in Mukuro's dorm room, right?" Nagito asked. "There's no denying that?"

Hiyoko nodded. "It was obvious with one glance at the room that some shit went down. So we can confirm that."

"But why would Junko go into another person's dorm room?" Taka asked. "Do we know that, yet?"

Peko shook her head, a solemn look on her face. "I'm afraid we don't know that."

"Maybe the culprit forced Junko into the dorm!" Miu said rather enthusiastically. "Against her free will, or some shit."

"No, that's wrong!" I said before I even comprehended what I was doing. "She wasn't forced into my dorm."

Miu rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah?" She leaned forward, challenging me with a smirk. "Can you prove it?"

"As a matter of fact, I can." Holy fuck where was this confidence coming from? "At least, if what Kotoko and Makoto said was correct."

"What I said?" Makoto asked, gears turning in his head. "Oh! You mean when we saw Junko last night?"

"You two saw her last night?" Mahiru raised her eyebrows and leaned towards the edge of her seat. "When was that? And what was Junko doing?"

Kotoko put her hand under her chin, using a finger to tap her cheek. "That would've been... around 10:30ish?" She turned to Makoto. "Am I wrong?"

Makoto shook his head. "No, you're right. We were heading to the laundry room around that time when we saw her leave her dorm room." 

"And did you see the bitch again afterwards?" Fuyuhiko asked. 

I noticed Fuyuhiko wasn't making eye contact with anyone. He looked rather disinterested in this whole ordeal, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes almost every chance he got. 

This wasn't the time. I'll complain about his ass afterwards. 

"I'm afraid that was the last we saw of her." Kotoko threw a glance in my direction. "Alive, at least."

"And how do we know that you're telling the truth?" Ibuli narrowed her eyes, as she continuously changed her gaze from Kotoko to Makoto. "Maybe you both killed her!"

"That reminds me:" Mahiru said before Ibuki's claim caused anymore arguements. "I'd like to ask Monokuma something. If there's an accomplice, will both of them become blackened?" 

"So you ask, and so I shall answer!" Monokuma had his head resting on his paws, like in the same way a high school girl was hearing the latest gossip over a sleepover. "Each murder is allowed to have an accomplice, but only the person who did the killing will be allowed to graduate if they got caught."

"So there can be an accomplice, but they wouldn't gain anything from it?" Tsumugi reiterated. "Then why would there even be an accomplice?" 

"Also, there's no way I'd even be able to fight against the Ultimate Assassin." Makoto piped up. "What would I even do, kill her with how adorable my dogs are?" He lifted up Kuroba to back up his point. 

"Maybe so, but Kotoko might!" Taka said. "She is the Ultimate Swordswoman, so surely she'd be able to take her." 

"I won't deny that," Kotoko lifted up her forearm, "but I'm still recovering from the sparring match Tsumugi and I had, so I'd be at a clear disadvantage if I were to fight her!"

Tsumugi nervously laughed. "Sorry about that, Kotoko."

"So the last you saw Junko was 10:30 last night?" Sayaka asked, getting us back on track. 

Makoto and Kotoko nodded. 

"Did you see anyone else while you were out?" Taka asked. "Or hear anything?"

Both Kotoko and Makoto exchanged glances. 

"I didn't hear anything." Kotoko answered. "Did you, Makoto?"

Makoto shook his head. "I didn't hear anything as well."

"And we're you guys together the whole time you were doing laundry?" Shuichi asked. "Or was there a time you guys were apart from each other?"

"We stayed with each other the entire time." Makoto's answered. "With Kotoko's injury, I helped her carry her laundry to and from her dorm. I even did a load of my laundry, because we were there, so why not?"

"Makoto's quite the gentleman, you know?" Kotoko giggled. "It's very rare to find one, these days."

I could've sworn I saw Sayaka look away out of the corner of my eye.

"Besides, how would we even get into Mukuro's room?" Makoto pointed out. "We don't even have the key!"

"That's true!" Miu said. "But there is one person who does..." She glared in my direction. "Isn't that right, Mukuro?"

I rolled my eyes. I really should have seen this coming. "I'm telling you, I didn't do it! And my key was stolen! I don't have it!" I wasn't even scared anymore. Mostly just annoyed at this repetitive song and dance.

"Prove it then, you titless pig!" Miu screamed. 

"At least use evidence to support any theories you have!" Ibuki interjected.

"Didn't you literally just accuse me and Makoto, though?" I barely heard Kotoko say.

"Okay, I will!" Miu said as she cracked her knuckles. "You better not come crying when you realize I'm correct!"

"Well, what do you think happened, Miu?" Ibuki asked. "At least then, Ibuki can use evidence to prove you wrong!"

"Very well! I won't repeat this, so you better listen up!" Miu cleared her throat as she prepared to accuse me. 

I flashed a quick smile at Ibuki as I mentally prepared for whatever insults Miu would throw at me.

"So what happened:" Miu threw me an accusatory look as she crossed her arms, "so when Junko was walking outside, she went into Mukuro's dorm room to check on her."

There was so much wrong with that sentence already, but I didn't say anything yet. Might as well let her finish her story.

"It was when Junko walked into the room where Mukuro stabbed her!" Miu pit her hands on her hips as she flashed a cocky smile. "Boom! Easy as pie, no other injuries! Man, I'm a genius!"

"No, that's wrong!" I shouted. "Didn't you look at the Monokuma File? It clearly showed that she suffered a blow to the head along with two additional stab wounds in her eyes!"

Miu looked shocked at what I said. She took a step back from her podium, her hands were shaking, and she was stuttering like crazy. "W-what?! B-but... b-but—"

If it weren't for how poorly she treated me today, I might have felt sorry for her, but I continued to point out the contradiction. "And that much is obvious when you look at Junko's corpse! Ask anyone who saw Junko, and they would agree!"

"W-well..." Miu was trembling, her face making a fearful expression. Then as if a switch was flipped, she stood up straighter, furrowed her eyebrows, and slammed her hands on the podium. "That doesn't exactly clear your name, does it, Pookuro?!"

I was my turn to get defensive. "W-well, not exactly. But—"

"How can you accuse her when you clearly have no idea what you're talking about?!" Ibuki said, sensing my discomfort. She glanced at me with a worried look as she spoke. "If anything, that's just making you more suspicious!"

Miu tried to stay strong, but her stuttering betrayed her. "W-well, y-you can't e-exactly deny t-that its suspicious that the murder took place in Mukuro's dorm room!"

"Maybe so," Peko crossed her arms, "but did you forget what Mukuro said this morning? She said that her key was stolen and hasn't been able to get into her room ever since we got here."

"A-and what makes you think that s-she's telling the truth?!" Miu argued. 

"What makes you think that she's lying?" Sayaka asked. 

"Well that's because Mukuro lied about Junko taking a shower this morning!" Miu pointed an accusatory finger at me. "So it makes sense for me to believe she's lying when she lied about about that!"

"I didn't lie!" I said before I could catch what I was saying. I immediately shrunk back as all eyes turned to me. "W-well, I believed that Junko was in the shower at the time. I-I even heard the shower turn on this morning!"

"Uh huh, uh huh." Miu nodded, despite clearly not believing me. "And what made you think it was Junko and not someone else?"

"Why would someone else go to Junko's dorm room to take a shower?" Hiyoko stuck her tongue out. "That's disgusting and perverted!" 

"A-anyway!" Miu blushed and looked anywhere but in Hiyoko's direction. "There's no other evidence to prove that Pookuro is telling the truth! What else would there be to help back her claim?"

"But there is evidence to back Mukuro's claim!" Ibuki shouted. 

"There is?" Miu and I said at the same time. 

"Yeah!" Ibuki turned to me. "Don't you remember what we found in Junko's dorm, Mukuro?"

Evidence Ibuki and I found in Junko's dorm? It took me a couple seconds, but I eventually remembered. "I got it! The keys to Junko's dorm room!"

"And what does that prove exactly?" Hiyoko asked. 

"I saw Junko's keys on the table this morning." I answered. "So with the keys on the table, and the shower turning on, it would make sense for me to assume that Junko hadn't left the room, and was taking a shower!"

"That does make sense." Mahiru said. "Unless you have anything to debunk that theory, Miu?"

Miu finally shut up for once. 

"Miu, I admire how..." Shuichi snapped his fingers as he tried to find a word that wouldn't set Miu off. "How passionate you are, but we need to ask questions instead of pointing fingers."

"I have a question." Fuyuhiko eyed me up and down. "If Mukuro was telling the truth, then how the fuck did the shower turn on on it's own?"

That was a question I was asking myself ever since this shitshow began. I felt ashamed that it took me this long to figure it out. 

"I have a theory." I said. "I believe that after the culprit murdered Junko, she planted evidence in her dorm to make me think that she was still alive when I woke up." 

"Okay, but wouldn't you have noticed the culprit sneaking around the room while you were sleeping?" Miu asked. 

"N-no..." I scratched the back of my neck and looked at the floor. "I-I'm a very heavy sleeper, it'd be very difficult to wake me up."

"Even so, you heard the shower turn on, correct?" Tsumugi ran a finger across the scar on bee cheek. "So wouldn't the killer have to stay in the bathroom all night to make sure that you heard the shower turn on?"

"No. Because the water is turned off at nighttime, remember?" I answered, hoping that I wouldn't have to explain it further. 

"Oh, Ibuki gets what you're trying to say!" Ibuki closed her eyes and put her hands on her head as she concentrated on what to say. "So if someone were to turn the shower on during nighttime, no water would come out. But! If they kept the shower nozzle in that same position, then the water come through the moment nighttime ended!"

"Oh, I see!" Taka nodded along. "So the culprit entered Junko's dorm, snuck past Mukuro, turned on the shower, then left!"

"Exactly." I nodded. "If I didn't hear the shower turn on, and I didn't see Junko anywhere, I definitely would've started to freak out."

"But how would've the culprit get into the dorm?" Tsumugi asked. 

"It's a possibility that the culprit murdered Junko first, then used Junko's key to enter her dorm room, then turned on the shower before leaving." Mahiru played with the ends of her flannel sleeves as she said that. "Does that seem probable?"

"Well," I heard Kotoko trail off, "that seems accurate, except for one thing..."

Mahiru rolled her eyes. She was probably a bit disappointed that she was wrong. "Which is..."

"I got it!" I said before Kotoko said anything. "You're taking about how Junko left the door open, correct?"

Kotoko nodded. "Though I have no idea why Junko did such a thing." She turned to Mahiru with an apologetic look. "I know it doesn't change what you said too much, but I felt that it would be best to mention the fact."

"That reminds me," I started, "about when I first saw the body." 

"Oh?" Kotoko cocked her head to the side. "What is it?"

"It's that when I was walking back to Junko's dorm to check on her earlier at breakfast this morning," I squeezed my arm to keep myself from drifting off topic to focus on any unsavory topics, "the door to my dorm room was slightly open."

"It was?" Tsumugi bit her lip. "But why would the door be open?"

"More importantly, how are you believing this?!" Great, Miu was back at her antics. "There's no one to back her claim, so we can't exactly assume that Pookuro over there is telling the truth."

"God, do you ever shut up?" Hiyoko crossed her arms and menacingly leaned towards Miu. "At least let us here her out so we can catch her in any lies she'd spout out!"

"Ugh, fine!" Miu glared at me. "Tell us how you found the body, I guess.

"O-okay." I cleared my throat and sucked in a deep, shaky breath. "So when I was heading back to Junko's dorm to check on her, I walked past my dorm. When I did, I saw that the door to my room was slightly open. It wasn't blown wide open or anything, more so it was slightly creaked open. Since I had lost my key and was staying in Junko's dorm, it caught my attention. My curious out got the better of me, so I opened the door, and..." I squeezed my arm again and tightly closed my eyes to hold back any tears welling up in my eyes. 

"And that's when you saw Junko." Ibuki finished for me as she gently squeezed my shoulder. 

I nodded. "Yeah. So that's what happened." I ignored the temptation to keep my eyes on the ground and instead stared straight into Miu's eyes. 

Miu was staring straight back, the determination and anger in her eyes matching mine.

I was almost amazed. This bitch had the audacity to take advantage of my grieving emotional state to bully me, and even after she's been called out on it, she's still fighting. 

I would've punched her in the face by now if it weren't for the fact that Junko used to wear the exact same expression that was on Miu's face. The strawberry blonde hair and icy blue eyes didn't help.

"Is there any evidence to disprove what I just said, Miu?" I managed to not grit my teeth when asking that. 

"No, but there isn't any evidence to validate what you said, either." Miu hissed out. The determined expression faltered as she looked at our fellow classmates. "Is there?"

"There is!" 

All eyes turned towards Ibuki. Her confidence outmatching both mine and Miu's combined. "Remember what Sayaka gave you, Ibuki?"

"The key to the dorm?" I looked at Ibuki and slightly tilted my head. "I remember, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Hey, Sayaka!" Ibuki placed a hand beside her mouth, probably to make herself sound louder. "Where did you an Kotoko find the key again?"

Sayaka furrowed her eyebrows. "I-it was on top of the desk beside the bed, but I don't see how that is re—"

"And did you step anywhere near that desk, Mukuro?" Ibuki leaned rather close to me, an innocent smile on her face. 

"N-no, I didn't." I answered. "I was too busy taking in... that."

"See?" Ibuki turned to the rest of the class. "There's no way that Mukuro could place the key!"

It was silent. Everyone exchanged glances with each other, with more than half of the glances in Ibuki's and my direction. 

The silence was broken with an exasperated sigh from Nagito. "If no one else will say if, then I will." He turned towards Ibuki; I saw a quick glance thrown in my direction. "That doesn't prove anything, Ibuki." 

Ibuki looked like she got slapped in the face. "Wh-what do you mean, Nagito? How does it not clear Mukuro's name?"

Nagito rolled his eyes. "One the the future beacons of hope, everybody." He cleared his throat. "Well, is it not possible that Mukuro secretly had the key all along, murdered Junko, entered the room to plant the key over there, then screamed her lungs out to catch all our attention?"

I looked at my shoes and sighed. Of course someone would bring that up. I feel like this argument on whether or not I'm the killer has been going on for hours now. For all I know, we've been in this class trial for a solid week.

"But why would she scream her lungs out if she didn't want the body to be discovered?!" Ibuki shouted, gripping the podium stand. "Wouldn't she only graduate if she wouldn't be discovered?"

"Maybe so, but there's no evidence to back that theory up, is there?" Nagito smiled as he ran a hand through his messy white hair. "Not to mention, there's no one that witnessed her enter the room, so—"

"I saw her." 

I tore my gaze away from my shoes and looked at the person who said that. 

"Fuyuhiko?"

The aforementioned Prince was staring daggers into Nagito's soul. If I were him, I would have probably gotten on my knees and started bowing.

"Then why didn't you say anything earlier, your Highness?" Nagito narrowed his eyes as he leaned against his podium. 

"Does that really matter now, asshole?" Fuyuhiko snapped at Nagito before directing his attention to the rest of the class. "I wasn't in the dining hall with you fucks, remember? I was making my way there to take some breakfast to my room when I saw Mukuro stare at her dorm room door." 

"Y-you did?" I looked at Fuyuhiko in disbelief. "Why didn't I—"

"Don't interrupt me, bastard." That glare was directed towards me now, causing me to stop in my tracks almost immediately. Luckily, Fuyuhiko's eyes were on me for but a second. "I saw her look all confused and opened the door and heard her scream, so there's no way what Nagito said was correct."

Unlike Miu, Nagito didn't seemed at all distressed by his theory being proved wrong. In fact, he chuckled as he placed one hand on his hip and looked at his other hand. "Of course. How foolish of me to think I was right about something."

I saw Fuyuhiko glance at me, which prompted me to smile and mouth "thank you" to him. 

He didn't react as he looked at Makoto, who was talking.

"W-well, don't you think we've been on this topic for long enough?" Makoto asked. "If anything, we're practically running in circles!"

"That is true." Peko nodded. "But what should we discuss next?"

"How about the murder weapon?" Shuichi suggested. "Or the injuries on Junko's body?"

"Good idea." Kotoko placed her hands on her hips. "You know what was also a good idea? Macaroni and Cheese. It's so delicious! It's so warm and cheesy, which is sort of a given. Why else would it be called Macaroni and Cheese?"

"Anyway," Mahiru brought us back on track, "the body had four noticeable injuries."

"That would be the stab wound on the neck, the two stab wounds in her eyes, and blunt force trauma to the head," Sayaka listed the injuries on her finger as she spoke, "but where does that get us?"

"The fatal wound was the neck one." Tsumugi added. "So we should start there."

"Well, there was a knife at the crime scene;" Miu adjusted her fingerless gloves, "that has to be the murder weapon!"

"No, that's wrong!" I shouted before anyone could jump onto what Miu said and lead down a rabbit hole with a dead end. "The knife couldn't be the murder weapon." 

"Oh yeah?" Miu smirked at me and leaned towards me. She probably meant to distract me with how... "big" her proportions were, but I shook the thoughts away. "And why's that?"

"Because the bloodstain on the knife doesn't match with the wound." I explained. "The knife had blood on the sharp edge. If the knife was in fact the murder weapon, the bloodstain would have been different."

"Oh, yeah! It totally would!" Kotoko beamed. "When a blade had bloodstains on the sharp edge, it shows that it was used in a slashing motion." Kotoko's arm made a chopping motion. "But if a blade was used in a stabbing motion like the one on Junko's corpse, then blood would be on the tip of the blade! I would know, I am well versed with blades, after all." Her happy demeanor fell into a frightful one. "A-and before you accuse me, I have an alibi, remember?!"

"Ah, so the murder weapon would have blood on just the tip?" Miu suppressed a snort. "I guess that makes sense."

"But why would the knife be there?" Makoto asked. "And why did the culprit keep it at the crime scene." 

"To be a red herring." Shuichi answered. "They probably kept the knife there as a way to throw us off."

"Maybe so, but why was there blood on it?" Peko asked. "Surely the culprit didn't slice open some skin for a simple bloodstain."

"The culprit maybe made a cut on Junko's skin?" Makoto suggested. 

"No, that's wrong." I said, way less forceful this time. "There weren't any cuts like that on her body when I checked." 

"We should come back to that topic later," Tsumugi suggested, "we should probably find the real murder weapon before we draw any conclusions." 

Mahiru raised an eyebrow in Tsumugi's direction before rolling her eyes and exhaling. "Alright then, what would the murder weapon be?"

"I got it!" I snapped my fingers as it clicked in my head. "The needles from the sewing kit!"

"The needles?" Miu tilted her head to the side. "You mean the same needles that were in Junko's eyes?"

"The wound does match the diameter of the average needle," Ibuki claimed, "so it totally makes sense!"

"So the culprit stabbed her in the neck, then stabbed her in the eyes?" Shuichi shuddered. "That seems excessive. Why would the culprit even do that?"

"To hide the weapon in plain sight, duh!" Hiyoko said as if we were toddlers. 

"That makes sense." I said, thinking back to one of the many conversations I had with Junko. "Junko said that it's tactic she uses after taking out some of her targets. I believe she also mentioned the practice being very common."

"But isn't it clear that Junko and the culprit fought?" Sayaka said as she looked at one of her photos. "I'm no expert, but trying to stab a small, moving target with something as small as a needle? That seems near impossible."

"Even I would have a hard time with that." Kotoko put a finger on her chin as she pressed her lips together and stared at the ceiling in thought. "But granted, I'm more proficient with two-handed blades, and a needle would be very hard to wield with two hands." She giggled.

"Maybe the culprit used something to keep her in place?" Peko suggested.

"It's possible, but what would the culprit use for such a thing?"

"I got it! The table in my room!" I exclaimed. 

Fuyuhiko looked at me as if I had two heads. "The table? Are you serious? How the fuck would the culprit lift the table?"

"Actually, it's a lot easier than you think." I said, not meaning any ill will with those words.

Fuyuhiko didn't seem to take it that way. "Oh? It's easy? Are you saying I'm not strong, bastard?" His nostrils were flaring and his face was getting redder by the second. "You saying that I should drink some milk, is that it? I'm lactose intolerant, you fuck!"

"N-no! That's n-not it a-at all!" I shook my head rapidly, hoping to get the point across. "I-I just mean that the table w-was broken! So the leg was used to knock her out!"

The fire in Fuyuhiko's eyes were washed out, but the redness sin his face remained. "O-oh..."

"Wow, just wow." Miu glared at Fuyuhiko, as she gestured in my direction with her hand. "She just lost her sister! Go easy on her, shorty!"

Ibuki looked like she was about to run over to Miu and choke the life out of her. "This bitch has the audacity—"

I covered Ibuki's mouth before she could say anything else. "So lifting the leg and hitting Junko on the head with it would have been enough to knock her out." 

"That explains the blunt force trauma." Hiyoko said as she looked at her nails and leaned against her podium. 

"So the culprit and Junko got into a fight, which lead to Junko getting knocked out with the table." Ibuki rubbed her head and closed her eyes as she spoke. "Then they used the map of the body in the sewing kit to find the perfect place to stab Junko, and used the needles to stab her there!"

Sayaka clutched a big strand of her dark blue hair with both her hands. "Then after the culprit put the needles in Junko's eyes, they went to Junko's dorm, where Mukuro was sleeping, turned on the shower, and left?"

"That's correct." Shuichi played with his cap. "But why was Junko or the culprit in Mukuro's dorm in the first place?"

"And when would the culprit have the time to steal Mukuro's key?" Peko asked. "Would it have been when we were exploring the place?"

"It does seem like the only available time." I said. "I realized my key had been stolen after we all met up in the dining hall, so it had to be before then."

"So the earliest it could have been stolen was after the so-called 'entrance ceremony' that Monokuma held." Tsumugi said. "And the latest it could have been stolen was right before the meeting in the dining hall."

"So in order to find out who stole it, we should say all out alibis." Sayaka said. "I was with Shuichi and Taka as we walked around the school looking for communications."

"We never left each other's line of sight." Shuichi said. 

"Kotoko and I were in the gym the whole time." Makoto said. 

"Nagito was there, too." Kotoko added. "But I didn't see if he left or not." 

"Oh I stayed in the gym the whole time." Nagito said with that signature raspy chuckle of his. "I didn't want to interfere with anyone's investigations."

"Mahiru and I were together looking at the dorm rooms." Peko said. "But we didn't go anywhere near Mukuro's dorm."

Mahiru nodded. "We only went into each other's dorms."

"Ibuki and I spent the whole time trying to rip off those stupid metal plates." Miu said. 

"And I was passed out, with Junko looking over me." I said. "So who does that leave?" 

It looked like we already knew the answer to that. 

We all looked at Fuyuhiko, Tsumugi, and Hiyoko. 

"Do you guys have any alibis?" Peko asked. 

The uncertain glances the three of them exchanged with each other was enough of an answer. 

"I would never steal some worthless pig's key!" Hiyoko shouted. 

"Same here!" Tsumugi fiddled with her glasses. "That would just be a waste of time!"

"Yeah!" Fuyuhiko clenched a fist. "What would I even gain from doing such a stupid thing?"

"Aren't you all forgetting one more person?" Nagito has a sly smile on his face, as if he was actually enjoying this. 

"W-we are?" Makoto asked. "Are you going to tell us who?"

I knew the person Nagito was talking about. I didn't want to consider the fact; that would imply that they deceived me. It's a shame. I really thought that they of all people wouldn't betray my trust like that. 

"You're talking about Junko," I loudly whispered, "aren't you?"

"Exactly!" Nagito said cheerfully. "That would explain why Kotoko kept on seeing her walking around after nighttime, would it not?"

"But Kotoko didn't see Junko go into Mukuro's dorm!" Sayaka argued, though her biting her lip showed her uncertainty. "... did you, Kotoko?"

Kotoko shook her head. "I didn't, but I didn't see her go anywhere else. I just saw her in the hallway."

"Then if these three—" Nagito simultaneously pointed a finger at Fuyuhiko, Hiyoko, and Tsumugi—"genuinely didn't take Mukuro's key, then that leaves one person: Junko Enoshima."

"But why would Junko even do that?" I asked to no one in particular. 

"Is that even important right now?" Nagito asked, the lazy smile being replaced with an annoyed frown. 

"Y-yes?" I said, I thought that would have been obvious. "The reason could maybe lead us to who killed her!"

"Both if you have a point." Peko turned to me, her voice as level as ever. "While the reason Junko stole your key is a mystery, we shouldn't focus on 'maybes' or 'I thinks.' We need evidence."

"Well, it's a given that the culprit knew about Junko taking the key, right?" Fuyuhiko asked. 

Someone who saw Junko take my key, I thought. So it would have to be Mahiru or Peko, because they were around the dorm room at the time. There is also the possibility that Hiyoko, Tsumugi, and Fuyuhiko saw Junko, because their whereabouts were unknown. Was there also the chance of someone being told that Junko's key was stolen? No, someone would have mentioned such a thing before we came to that conclusions ourselves. 

"And seeing how horrible the state of Mukuro's dorm was," Taka said, snapping me out of my train of thought, "there's no way they wouldn't come out unscathed!"

Then it clicked. 

What Taka said was completely true. And out of the list of possible suspects, there was one person who openly talked about an injury that morning. 

"Tsumugi..." I said, determination and hope coursing through my voice. "It's you, isn't it?"

"M-me?!" Tsumugi's faced paled. "That came out of nowhere!"

"You don't have an alibi for when we were searching around the school." My voice subconsciously deepened as I said that. "So there's the possibility that you saw Junko steal my key."

"W-well yeah, but Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko don't have alibis either—"

"I am not done speaking." I interrupted. "You also talked about a recent injury this morning. Like Taka said, there's no way the culprit fought the Ultimate Assassin and come out unscathed."

"I told you, that was from the sparring match a couple days ago!" Tsumugi wiped a hand across her forehead, possibly to clean off any sweat. 

"You got a fresh injury from a fight that happened two days ago?" Peko raised an eyebrow. "How does that make sense?"

"I... I..." Tears were starting to fall from Tsumugi's eyes. "I didn't kill Junko! You have to believe me!"

"Then prove it!" Hiyoko slammed her hands on her podium. "Don't keep on repeating yourself!"

"Isn't it obvious? There's a great reason why I'm not the culprit!" Tsumugi's blanched face started to redden. 

"Well, duh!" Miu raised her chin with a prideful grin as she slightly shifted her weight. "B-but you should t-totally explain it for the slow brained morons here."

"T-there's nothing at the crime scene that could have caused the injury!" Tsumugi clutched the injury with her hand.

"No, that's wrong!" I shouted. "There was the knife!"

"The knife?!" Tsumugi's breathing became heavy. "Why the knife?"

"Don't you remember what Kotoko said earlier?" My knuckles began to hurt from how hard I was gripping my podium, but I didn't care. "The stain on the knife showed us that it was used in a slashing motion. Much like the cut on your hand!"

"B-but that implies that Junko had the knife!" Tsumugi's eyes were darting in every direction. "A-are you're saying that I walked into the room with intent to kill without some sort of weapon?!"

"I never said that," I wanted to shake my head, but I would have to tear away my glaring gaze from Tsumugi, so I stayed there, "there's the chance that you were the one who brought the knife!"

"I saw how amazing you were wielding a knife, Tsumugi." Kotoko added, not meeting Tsumugi's eyes. "You were amazing!"

"You must have gotten cocky after you defeated Kotoko, didn't you?" Shuichi shook his head out of disbelief. "You thought you could best Junko?"

"I-I assure you, I'm not that kind of person." Tsumugi gripped on strands of her hair. "I w-wouldn't kill someone without good reason!"

"You're an heiress to a criminal family!" Taka furrowed his brows. "So don't you kill people regularly!"

"Well, yes." Tsumugi let go of her hair and stood up taller. "But the criminal underworld only stays afloat because of rules in place so we don't go crazy! A-and to break the rules to disturb the small shreds of piece we have would be horrible. S-so why would I do that?!"

"Surely you would know that the same rules don't apply in this shitshow." Fuyuhiko pressed his lips together. "So that's a lame excuse."

"As for why you would do that..." I thought back to the event that would set Tsumugi off. "The motive video, obviously."

"That is, quite literally, what the motive video is for." Nagito played with the sleeves of his jacket. "To push you over the edge."

"It wouldn't be surprising if your clan were the people in you motive video." Peko said, her raised eyebrows the only thing on her face showing any emotion. "Were they in the motive video?"

"Yes, but they're a tough bunch." Tsumugi rubbed the nape of her neck as she looked at the floor. "T-they wouldn't go down unless something seriously earth-shattering happened! I-I trust that they are okay." She bit her lip. 

"You're lying." I said simply. 

Tsumugi looked up at me, her trembling legs giving away the fact. "W-what?"

"Even the tiniest quirk can show someone's true intentions." I remember Junko said to me one day. She was telling me about a target she was sent to kill and how easy it was to tell that he was lying. "And oh my god were those little quirks everywhere."

"Biting your lip is a common tell." I repeated the exact words Junko said to me that day. "Is it possible that you're actually worried about your clan, and you killed Junko to leave this place and find out what happened, didn't you?"

"I'm telling you! I didn't kill Junko!" Tsumugi clutched her injured hand as tears finally started to pour down. "I didn't! You have to believe me!"

"How about this? We go through the entirety of what we believe happened, beginning to end!" Makoto puffed his chest out. "Last night—"

"Makoto?" I swallowed down any fear that would stop me from what I was about to do. "Can I do it?"

Makoto visibly deflated, but tried his best to hide it behind a sad smile. "Sure. You deserve to do it, after all."

I cleared my throat. I would be using my voice a lot to explain the events that transpired, after all. 

"So what happened last night..."

/\/\/\/\

"It all started when Junko Enoshima left her dorm room yesterday, after nighttime, leaving the door slightly creaked open. She was making her way to her destination when she ran into two people: Kotoko Utsugi and Makoto Naegi. Junko didn't want to let the pair know where she was going, so she lied and said that she was making her way to the dining hall. After Kotoko and Makoto left Junko's line of sight, Junko went to her real destination: my dorm room, leaving the door open. She managed to keep her stealing my key an insult, but one person knew: the culprit.

"The culprit grabbed a knife to prepare themselves for the oncoming ambush they were planning, and snuck into my dorm room. They also closed the door, so they wouldn't catch any attention. Unfortunately, Junko saw the culprit before they could land any blows on her, so killing Junko was going to be more work than the culprit anticipated. So they broke out into a fight.

"In the midst of the fighting, Junko managed to steal the knife from the culprit, and sliced their hand. Also in the midst of the fight, either Junko or the culprit got thrown into the table, causing the leg to break off from the rest of the table. Seeing that their weapon was taken from them, the culprit had to improvise. So they grabbed the leg of the table, and hit Junko on the head as hard as they could. 

"The blow wasn't enough to kill her, but it was enough to knock her out. The culprit, still improvising, opened the sewing kit in my dorm. They used the needles to finish the job, stabbing Junko in the neck, then stabbing the needles in her eyes.

"But the culprit wasn't done yet. So they went into my room to plant some evidence. It was easy to do, since Junko left the door open; the culprit could have easily slipped in. The fact that I'm a heavy sleeper also helped the culprit sneak in, since it would be hard for me to wake up. They snuck into the bathroom, turned on the shower so water would start flowing the second daytime began. They then closed the door to Junko's dorm, which finished any preparations the culprit did.

"And that person is you, Tsumugi Shirogane, isnt it?!"

/\/\/\/\

By the end of that, I was breathing heavily and my eyes were wet. I'm surprised I didn't notice I was crying, but then again, I was busy trying to explain to my sister's killer how she murdered my sister.

"Well, Tsumugi?" Nagito turned to her, his face unreadable. "Anything you would like to add?"

Tsumugi curled into herself, making herself look smaller. Her legs were shaking and bent towards each other, her lip was trembling, and her eyes were wide. She looked like a cornered animal. 

"I..." the fearful demeanor vanished. She stood up straight and her eyes burned with the fury of a red ant swarm. "I didn't kill her. That's not nearly enough evidence!" 

"Well, are you going to actually say anything that's backed up evidence?" Mahiru pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're almost as unreliable as some of the boys here."

Tsumugi groaned in frustration. "Fine!"

Thus began an excruciatingly long back and forth of Tsumugi throwing out something random and me debunking it with clear cut evidence. Some of the others piped up to prove Tsumugi wrong, but it was mostly between me and her. 

During the arguement, I picked up on some quirks that Tsumugi had. Like how she pushes up her glasses when she thinks she's right, or how she traces her finger on whatever scars she has when she's deep in thought. It was rather interesting to find what kind of quirks she had, but it didn't distract me from what I had to do. 

This mafia fucker killed my sister. And she has to pay. 

After what felt like hours, it seemed that Tsumugi finally gave up. She was panting and her eyes were red with tears. 

"W-we should get this over with." Sayaka said. "I think we've all come to a conclusion."

Monokuma chuckled at the sound of that. I assumed the grin was ever so present on his face, but I wouldn't know. I was too busy glaring daggers into Tsumugi's soul. "Looks like you've all reached your verdict! Then are we ready to cast our votes?" The silent pause was enough answer for him. "You all have a lever in front of you. Use it to make a selection! Oh, just to remind you all: make triple sure that you vote for someone! You wouldn't want to be punished for something so minor, right?

"Okay! Let's get excited!" Monokuma rubbed his paws together in anticipation. "Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be?"

/\/\/\/\

"Uh-oh!" Monokuma stepped down from his throne and approached us. "Looks like you got it right on the money! The blackened in this case, the one that killed Junko... was none other than Tsumugi Shirogane!"

Audible sighs echoed around the room. They must have been thinking about how they managed to skirt away from the clutches of death, or how this stressful situation was past them now. 

But Tsumugi looked as calm as ever. Maybe because she was certain on how things will play out, or because the weight and tension of pretending and lying was finally off her shoulders. 

I didn't like it one bit. 

"Darn," Tsumugi looked at the ground and had the audacity to laugh, "good job, you guys."

"So you really..." Makoto began holding Kuroba again, hugging the pup for dear life. "... you really killed Junko?"

"You're laughing." I said. "You murdered someone, and you're laughing."

"I mean, I have a track record of killing people." Tsumugi made the smart move to not look into my eyes. "The stressful part is convincing people that you actually didn't kill the person. It doesn't matter if I failed in that department today, because that weight of lying to you guys is off my shoulders now." She looked at me. "You are correct. I did kill Junko."

I felt Ibuki squeeze my shoulder. If it weren't for that, I probably would have lunged at Tsumugi and killed her before Monokuma could do any sort of punishment to her. "Why?" I asked. "Why her of all people?" 

"Why?" Tsumugi blinked, not seeming to understand my question. "Well, isn't it obvious? I had to get out of here. And out of everyone here, she was the one I saw hiding something from us. And in my world, you always assume the worst, so I simply thought that she was planning on killing someone and pinning it on you... or something."

I gritted my teeth together. "Junko wouldn't—" 

"And you're probably right." Tsumugi interrupted, treading on dangerous ground doing so. "You knew way better than I would ever have: But like I said: I assume the worst in people. And I at least wanted to get the jump on her before she could make the first move. How else do you think I gained my title as an Ultimate."

"I guess that makes sense in a way." Nagito golf clapped in Tsumugi's direction. "It's a shame, though, for your life to be ending like this." 

Tsumugi sniffled and wiped her sleeve under her nose to catch any snot. "Don't remind me. I was really excited to take on the family name and bring the Tsumugi clan to better heights. Who knows? If we weren't in this situation, I would have happily employed Junko to take on hits for me later on. She would have been an amazing ally." She looked up at me again, a sad smile plastered on her face. "I guess it wasn't meant to be." 

"If you're expecting me to forgive you because of some sob story, you better think again!" I shouted as I took a step forward. 

Ibuki squeezed my shoulder even more and placed her other hand on my arm. "Please, control yourself, Mukuro." She whispered in my ear. "For just a little bit longer, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm not expecting anything from you, Mukuro," Tsumugi smiled and bowed her head, "but if this means anything, I am truly sorry for the pain I caused you, and I hope that you can overcome it." 

"Shut up. Just shut up!" I wriggled my way out of Ibuki's grip and made a B-line straight for Tsumugi. I grabbed her collar and yanked her close. She didn't react at all. "You think that just because you failed means that you get to lie to my face?! You killed my sister! You killed my best friend! You killed the only thing keeping me from going insane in this situation! And you know what you did? You took that away from me, and you have the audacity to go 'hey I'm sorry about that, hope you feel better' and think that would make it all better?!" I released her shirt, took a step back, balled up my fist, and aimed for the face. 

A crack resonated throughout the room. Tsumugi stepped back a couple steps and clutched her nose. 

The pain in my hand was dulled out by the relief of letting the tears I have been holding back all day flow freely. I sunk to my knees and clutched my arms as I finally relaxed. I brought Junko justice. I don't need to be strong anymore. I can cry myself to death if I wanted to, because I finished it. I might have looked weak in front of everyone, but I couldn't care less. I was allowed to cry. 

Ibuki knelt down beside me, embracing me in a warm hug. I immediately reciprocated and cried on her shoulder for what felt like hours. 

I heard people talking during this, but I was too busy letting out any emotions I bottled up to comprehend what anyone was saying. I was certain that Ibuki would fill me in on it later. 

"Okay, okay!" I felt a light tapping on my side. "Enough crocodile tears!" Monokuma said. "I'd be really sad if you missed out on this!" 

I sniffled and looked up at Monokuma. "Miss out on what?" My voice was barely there from how much wailing and whimpering I was doing, but it seemed like Monokuma heard me. 

"Why, the blackened's punishment, of course!" His cheerful demeanor might have been out of place before, but it was especially out of place now. 

"M-my punishment?" I heard Tsumugi ask. There was a slight waver in her voice. "As in my execution, correct?"

"Exactly!" Monokuma bounced away from me to (I assume) Tsumugi. "Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Yakuza!"

I heard some more sniffles from Tsumugi's direction. They sounded like they were in the brink of collapsing. "No, I have to be strong." I heard her mutter.

"Let's give it everything we've got! It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!" Monokuma shouted. 

Tsumugi broke down crying. 

/\/\/\/\

Tsumugi Shirogane looks at her fellow classmates, the uncertainty in their eyes almost matching hers if it weren't for the unbridled terror she alone harbors in them.

Before she knew it, a metal collar fastens around her neck and a metal chain drags her away from the trail room faster than she can comprehend. The scraping she gets on the floor due to friction almost matches the pain she gets from desperately clawing at the collar around her neck, hoping to get it off. 

The dragging stops, and Tsumugi finds herself on a deserted road. The road has turned over cars and bloodstains all over it. The buildings on each side of the road are run down, and look victim to arson and explosions.

Tsumugi looks around some more and sees people hiding behind the turned over cars. They rise up, revealing that they have guns of all different sizes and calibers. The guns are aimed at the people behind different cars. 

Tsumugi's eyes widen in realization. She knows what's happening: this is a gang battle, and she's right in the crossfire. 

The guns start firing. Bullets being thrown left and right. None hit Tsumugi in any fatal areas, but she is grazed and shot nonetheless. 

The pain is great, but Tsumugi's will to find which car shields her clan is even greater. They have to be here. They must be her. 

She looks at every car and the people behind it, hoping she will see a familiar face. No one so far. There wasn't a single face she recognized. Not a single ally. Not a single enemy. Just a bunch of unrecognizable faces in the sea of bullets. 

The pain was increasing. The bullets started to go deeper. Tsumugi hissed out in pain and begins to breathe heavily. There are bullets in her arms, shoulders, and even legs. It takes all her strength to even stand up. 

Then Tsumugi sees the silhouettes of familiar faces. The faces of her clan members. 

Tsumugi limps towards them. They could save her. They could protect her. They could even take the other—

All thoughts seized as the shadows turn around and shoot her. 

If Tsumugi didn't immediately die, she would have seen the shadows were really Monokumas.

/\/\/\/\

We all stared in disbelief at what the hell we just witnessed. 

Tsumugi Shirogane was dead.

My sister's killer was dead. 

So why did I feel like throwing up? 

"Woohoo!" Monokuma rose up towards us and dusted off his paws. "Extreme! Man, my adrenaline is off the charts!" 

"Wh-what the fuck was that?!" Hiyoko eyes were saucers. 

Shuichi crumpled to his knees. "Ts-Tsumugi... why?"

"Huh." Nagito said plainly, looking unfazed by the whole situation. 

Sayaka stared at Monokuma. "Why in the world would you do that? She had a future!"

"Well, it's simple really." Monokuma shrugged. "If you disrupt the peace, you are punished accordingly."

"Y-youre the one who drove her to it, you sicko!" Mahiru pointed an accusatory finger at Monokuma. 

In the midst of all that, Ibuki stood up from her cradling me and extended a hand. "Come on, let's get you standing." 

I took the hand as I crawled back up into a standing position. My legs were wobbly, so I leaned against a podium, but I couldn't remember whose. 

"Well, it's her fault for cutting off all ties to the outside world." Monokuma pouted and crossed his arms. "And it's all you have to do if you don't want to go through this again. It's that easy!" 

"Why... why are you doing this evil shit you us, you bastard?!" Fuyuhiko shouted. 

Monokuma put a paw over his heart. "Evil? You make it sound like I'm some dark, awful, secret society type of guy! Or in this case, a dark, awful, secret society type of bear!"

"You say that as if there's a good reason for putting a perfect girl like me through this!" Miu crossed her arms, though it was less because she was upset and more because she wanted to make her boobs look bigger. 

"It looks like you're trying to make sense of something that doesn't make sense." Monokuma tilted his head to the side. "That's like trying to weigh a bed using a small scale used for only people! It's just not possible." 

"You're dodging her question, bastard." I could have only imagined how scary Fuyuhiko would have been if he didn't have such a babyface. 

"Hm? But she didn't ask a question." Monokuma said. "Man, you guys sure are persistent, aren't you?"

"Well, no shit we are!" Miu screamed. "We wanna get the ever living fuck outta here!"

"Aww." Monokuma lowered his head. "After all the work that was put to keep you all here, you guys want to leave? Man, people these days are so ungrateful!" 

"Of course we are ungrateful!" Kotoko slammed the wall with a fist. "We didn't ask for any of this! If we wanted to life in a building for the rest of our lives we would have done a crime that would end up with a life sentence in jail!"

Monokuma sighed. "Oh well. I guess I'll have to wait for the next murder. You guys blame me a lot less when you're busy finding the blackened anyway." And with that he sunk down. 

It took us a couple minutes to even say something. I guess we were all comprehending that Monokuma is more serious about this than we thought, or that out of the thirteen people still alive, how many people will follow in Junko or Tsumugi's stead. 

"We should go back to our dorms." Mahiru said. Her voice didn't seem to give away any uncertainty or fear, but anyone could tell that it was just a brave act. No one could be brave after seeing that. "We can talk more about what Monokuma said in the morning. We need some time to heal from... that."

We wordlessly headed to the elevator. 

It was in the elevator that Makoto approached me. "Hey, how are you feeling?" 

"What does it look like?" It came out harsher than I anticipated, but I didn't care to apologize to him about that. 

"O-oh, well, uh." Despite losing his confidence, Makoto still stood straight. "I was just wondering if finding the blackened would make you feel any better." 

"Surprisingly enough, yeah." I answered truthfully. "As weird as it sounds, now that I brought justice to Junko, I don't have to keep up the brave act anymore. I can let my tears flow freely, because now I can do that without feeling like Junko has any unfinished business." 

"That's great, Mukuro." Makoto flashed a smile, causing my face to heat up. "I-if you don't mind, can I... you know?" 

"I don't know actually." I said. "But you've helped me enough today, so I would probably say yes to whatever you say as thanks." 

Makoto sighed. "Well, that's a relief. Kare, come here." 

Kare, who was still beside my leg, happily trotted over to Makoto. Makoto scooped her up and place a giant kiss on her head. "I missed you." 

I was a little sad to see Kare go, especially after how much she helped me keep my head up, but I didn't mind too much. "You probably need her right now after all... that."

Makoto out Kare in his hoodie pocket, causing Kuroba to go crazy. "Well, I still need to train her. She's not a full service dog yet." 

"Oh, right. Well she did amazing in keeping my head above water." I added. "Just do you know." 

Makoto nodded. "I'll give you some privacy." He said as he turned his attention to his dogs. 

It wasn't too long after that that I felt a hand gently graze mine. 

I turned around to see Ibuki. She had a sad smile across her face, and the heavy makeup she usually wears had the slightest hint of tear marks. "Ibuki overheard your conversation with Makoto, so I won't ask the same question, but can I ask you something?"

I gestured for her to go on ahead. 

"Will you stay in your dorm room now?" 

I immediately shook my head. "I don't have the strength to face that. Not yet." 

"Then are you staying in Junko's dorm?" 

"What other option is there?" 

Ibuki opened her mouth to say something, but she shook her head. "You're right. You're right. Is there anything I can do to help you?" 

I sighed. "Well, I don't fully trust myself to get out of bed the next morning if I'm being honest. Maybe you can bring me food from the dining hall as I regain my strength?" 

Ibuki nodded. "Of course. I will be there every step of the way for you. I promise I will not leave your side." 

"Thank you Ibuki. Before we head back to our dorms though, would you mind accompanying me to the dining hall for some ice cream?"


	5. Boy’s Life of Despair: Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after the first class trial. How will Mukuro hold up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I am SO sorry that this chapter took forever. 
> 
> If you didn’t know, I had COVID. I managed to kick its ass, but I ended up really behind in school work. 
> 
> Also, I’m going to start posting a chapter every Sunday instead of Friday. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Junko Enoshima was gone. 

Physically, I mean. By the time I dragged myself to my dorm room and peaked inside, it looked as if Junko nor Tsumugi never even fought. No rotting corpse, no dried bloodstains, no broken furniture, no teared up carpet or wallpaper, nothing.

Like I told Ibuki in the elevator, I couldn't even bring myself to lie down in the bed. Just looking at the dorm room nearly made me throw up. There was no way I could bring myself to sleep in there. As idiotic as it sounds, I was scared that I would wake up to find Junko's bleeding body laying right beside me. 

So I slept in Junko's room. For the first time since I arrived at Hope's Peak Academy, I slept alone, with no younger twin sister to kick me out of the bed in the middle of the night. 

Back in Europe, when I was particularly stressed or in a lousy mindset, I would walk outside, lay down in the nearest patch of grass I could find, and listen to the chirps and buzzes of the bugs around me and attempt to classify their species purely based on what I heard. The chirping and droning of cicadas were always my favorite sound. Most people usually found it annoying, saying that they sounded like a constant screaming, and that you couldn't think of anything else other than how loud they are and how much you want the screaming to stop. 

I guess I now know what they mean. There was a constant internal screaming in my head that occasionally became external. No matter how much I tried to take my mind off what happened today, my brain would not let me linger on another topic for five minutes before forcing me to face the reality of whatevs happening. 

My sister is dead, and will never be coming back. 

I can never tug at her pigtails to annoy her ever again. I can never rant to her about the life spans of beetles and bees ever again. I can never gossip to her about the romance scandals I overheard while at Fenrir ever again. 

She can never feel that thrill she loves when she goes on a hit ever again. She can never call me a bug freak while hurting anyone else who calls me that ever again. She can never kick me out of the bed while she's sleeping ever again. 

We will never embrace each other ever again. We will never hype each other up ever again. We will never complain about the other taking up the shower ever again. 

"It's should have been me." I whispered through the ugly sobs being chocked out of me. "It should have been me."

I repeated that single phrase over and over until I passed out from exhaustion.

/\/\/\/\

I slept through the Monokuma announcement. That is, if you count waking up to it, flipping the monitor off, then immediately falling asleep again sleeping through it. 

I didn't even fall right back to sleep. I was in that limbo where you're too tired to get out of your bed, but awake enough for the quietest sound to disturb you. 

Thank god these walls are soundproof, I thought, or else I would be annoyed by hearing people getting up and moving. 

I thought that thought way too soon. 

The doorbell rang. Then rang again. And again and again and again until I psyched myself up to open the door.

"Good nom-nom-noming!" Ibuki bounced up and down, excited to see me. 

"Hey..." I forced a smile in Ibuki's direction. "How'd you sleep?" 

"Ibuki slept great! How about you?"

I simply shrugged, trying to convert that it was alright. I didn't want to speak anymore than I wanted to. My voice was still hoarse from all the screaming and crying last night. 

Ibuki didn't take the hint. "I'm sorry," she put a hand to her ear, "I didn't hear you!"

I guess I didn't have a choice in the matter. I held back the urge to sigh. "I slept alright." 

"That's great! Now come on!" Ibuki extended a hand. "Let's go get some breakfast! Everyone is waiting for you!"

I stared at the hand and shot a couple glances at Ibuki's face. I didn't want to go to the dining hall. I wanted to stay in my dorm and curl up in my bed. 

But then again, the people might be a nice distraction from all the self deprecating thoughts my brain is torturing me with. 

"The social interaction would be healthy for you." Ibuki said. She probably noticed the hesitation in my eyes. "Come on."

I reluctantly took my hand him hers and let her drag me there. 

"Hey, guys!" Ibuki shouted, announcing our arrival to the dining hall. 

Everyone in the hall replied mumbles and murmurs of different greetings out of politeness, not really wanting to make conversation. Not that I blame them. With the events that happened yesterday, being harshly wake up in early morning by Monokuma, and being invested in eating breakfast, it's a wonder they even greeted us at all. 

I slumped into the nearest seat I could find, and Ibuki went into the kitchen to get food for the both of us. I don't even remember telling her what I wanted, but knowing how I much of a funk I was in, I probably didn't say anything. 

I don't belong here. Those thoughts started to work itself into my brain. Junko should be here. She would be able to help everyone get out of here. There's nothing I could do to help. I'm just a grief-stricken entomologist who can't even get her own food. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Are you alright?" 

I looked up from the table to see that the silvery voice belonged to none other than Kotoko Utsugi. She had her eyebrows furrows together in concern and had a hand placed on my shoulder. 

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I desperately wanted to say that I was alright, that she didn't need to worry about me and that she shouldn't go out of her way to make me feel better. 

Instead, my mouth closed and I shook my head. 

Kotoko started to drum her fingers on the table, "Well, is there anything I can do to help?"

I shrugged. "... I wouldn't know..." I whispered. "Maybe?"

"Oh, well alright." Kotoko but her lip. "Well, if you need anything, please let me know, okay?"

I suppressed a groan and instead forced a small smile. "Yeah."

That same song and dance happened many different times with different people all throughout breakfast. People would walk up to me, ask if I'm okay (the red eyes and the fact that I was staring longingly at my food instead of eating it apparently didn't give it away), and say that "if I needed anything, to please let them know."

I appreciated the sentiment, but man if it wasn't annoying hearing those exact same words over and over again. It's like they read off a script. 

The bustle and side conversations lessened when Taka cleared his throat and stood up from his seat. "Well, now that we are all here, we should discuss how to get out of here!" 

"Wait," Hiyoko held up a hand and turned to me, "was your room completely cleaned out like Monokuma said?"

I must have been too busy having a mental breakdown to hear, but apparently after the Tsumugi's execution, Monokuma said something about the crime scene being completely cleaned up. 

"Hiyoko! Can't you clearly see that she's too depressed to say anything?" Taka scolded before turning to me. "But was it cleaned, though?"

I nodded, not wanting to say anything more than that, just wanting to get the topic over with. 

Hiyoko took the hint, Taka didn't. "Really? Well that's a relief!" He laughed boisterously. "I can't imagine how you'd feel sleeping next to the corpse of your dead sister!"

I could feel all the disgusting stares in Taka's direction. I had a hard time deciding if he was actually that oblivious to human emotion, or if he was deliberately pushing my buttons.

"And here I was thinking that a man was reliable." Mahiru scoffed. "That's what I get, I guess."

"Back to the topic at hand:" Nagito steered us back on track, though I doubt it was for my sake, "about getting out of here?"

"Also before we do that, we need to get rid of the idea that no more murders will happen." Hiyoko's voice was certain and had an unwavering confidence in it. 

Everyone's gazes shifted to her, baffled by what she just said. 

"H-how can you be so sure?" Ibuki asked. "W-what makes you think such a thing would happen again."

Hiyoko rolled her eyes. "God, you all are idiots. In history, all it takes is one person or event to set something off. Before yesterday, everyone was hesitant to do such a thing because of the uncertainty of what would happen. Now that Tsumugi's put things in motion, any potential blackeneds know what to expect and can think up methods on how to avoid such a thing from even happening."

"Even after such a brutal execution?" Sayaka asked. "If anything, they should be intimidated by that."

Hiyoko slammed her hands on the table. "Don't interrupt me, you trashy slut! Now, like I was saying: everyone here now knows what to expect with the class trial, investigation, and even exectution, which makes them more dangerous. And sure, you can choose to be a blissful dumbass and believe that no one will murder or be murdered, but there's no going back now."

"She's right." Nagito said. I was too busy staring at the floor to look at his expression, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was smiling. "It's like a domino effect. Once someone falls into despair, it will only be a matter of time before someone follows in their steed without anyone to pull them out of it."

"Which is why we need to work together!" Mahiru said. "If we can all support each other emotionally, then we could lessen the chances of going through a class trial again."

"Keep telling yourself that, you ginger fuck." Hiyoko sneered. "But don't come crying to me when I turn out to be right."

"D-do you have anything else to add?" Sayaka asked, her voice dripping with annoyance. "Or can we get back on track on getting out of here?"

"Oh, yeah. We can discuss that, now." Hiyoko dismissed with a wave of her ha d. "I just wanted to give you all a wake up call."

I zoned out after that. I particularly didn't really care for the conversation. It's not like I'd be any help in my grieving state, so I just picked at the food in front of me. 

Junko would have been more help. She was an expert on tactics and reading people. She would have figured out the mastermind of this whole situation by now if she was still with us. 

I really should have been the one who died instead of Junko. 

I kept on thinking back to why Tsumugi killed her. The door that lead to the room I was staying in was open according to Kotoko, and an entomologist would be a much easier target to kill than an assassin. And if she killed me in Junko's dorm, she would absolutely be able to pin the crime on her easily. There would have been way less hoops to jump through; why did she go after Junko instead? I guess we'll never know. 

My mind wondered to the Nighttime announcement last night. Monokuma said the usual stuff, and added something sinister at the end. 

"It was totally obvious before that you were trying to make yourselves feel better and justify what you did." Monokuma had said, the usual liquid in his wine glass sloshing around. "See you, see you, don't see you, see you! That's about how much I can see you, even when you try to hide! Now pay attention and remember this well: the burden of judging others is a heavy one to bear, so be well aware of your actions! Order and stability rely on the sacrifice and responsibility of everyone!"

I personally didn't have a hard time getting over Tsumugi's death. She deserved every bullet that grazed her skin and then some. She took the one person that meant more to me than anything. It was a shame that I didn't do more than just punch her in the nose.

The only reason I considered going to Hope's Peak Academy was because Junko was also accepted; it would give the two of us a great way to bond after being separated for a couple years. For someone to even fathom taking that away from me is something I could never forgive. 

I heard the rustling of people standing up and leaving the dining hall, signaling to me that breakfast was over. I followed suit, and hurried my way to Junko's dorm before anyone could stop me. 

/\/\/\/\

Not long after, Monokuma called us to the gym. I didn't remember or hear why; I was too busy laying in my bed doing nothing to really care. Ibuki took it upon herself to escort me to the gym. She was probably worried that I would melt into a pile of tears if she didn't stay by my side. 

As much as I appreciated the sentiment, I felt like I was being dragged along and had no free will of what I wanted to do. I was perfectly capable of walking to the gym, but apparently Ibuki thought otherwise. 

I had no idea what to expect when we got to the gym. Was it another motive? Was it to gloat in my face that two of our classmates were dead (albeit one of them deserved to die)? I thought about every possibility. 

Well, every possibility except one. 

"Okay! Lift your arms up, and down!" Monokuma's cadence sounded just like a yoga teacher at some gym. He went through the motions with his arms, probably to help get my remaining classmates to exercise with him. The most Monokuma got was Miu lifting her arm to show him the finger. 

Monokuma stood on top of a wooden box that was on the stage, so he would be physically above us; since the tallest one here was either Taka or Nagito, it was relatively easy for Monokuma to do so. 

"Is there another reason you brought us here?" Nagito was fixing his wavy hair into a ponytail as he said that. 

Peko rubbed her square glasses with the cuff of her black shirt. "Surely there's another reason for us being here."

"Is it another motive?" Ibuki leaned on the stage and used her mouth to blow any stray hairs away from her face. "Oh! Are we putting on a fashion show?!"

"Of course not! Do you really think I care about whether or not you get fat or buff? I don't have that kind of free time on my hands!" Monokuma hopped down from the box, but remained on the stage. "I'd like to make an announcement. Every time you overcome a class trial here at Hope's Peak, a whole new world will open up to you!" 

"A whole new world?" Sayaka repeated, eyebrowed furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It would really suck if you had to live here forever with nothing new to stimulate you." Monokuma's voice dripped with mock concern. "Besides, I know how you kids get these days with you ADD and ADHD. I gotta keep you motivated!" 

I really wanted to tell him that "my sister is dead, so my motivation is completely nonexistent, you two-faced, bitch", but I though better of it. 

Monokuma waved us all off, like someone waving goodbye to their kid on the first day of school. "So go ahead, look around all you want! Enjoy the brave new post-trial world till you explode!" 

After Monokuma sunk down into the floor we all exchanged looks with everyone. 

"A new world?" Makoto asked. He was sitting on the ground, Kuroba and Kare on each of his legs. 

"Does that mean a way to get out of here?" Mahiru had tied her oversized flannel around her waist, showing off the short sleeves of her dress shirt.

Hiyoko, who had been sitting on a floor cross-cross style, walked over and smacked Mahiru under the head. "Don't be stupid! That ugly bear would never let us have the opportunity."

"Well we won't know if we stay in the gym, now will we?" Kotoko had been doing her own exercises with her sword, causing everyone to give her a wide berth. "What's the worst that could happen?"

A scoff came from the direction of Fuyuhiko, who was leaning against the wall, trying to look cool. "Do you even have to ask, bastard?"

"A-anyway," Miu was leaning against the wall much like Fuyuhiko, but she was a couple feet away from him and had her arms crossed under her chest, "are we going to fucking investigate this shit or what?"

"That's true." Sayaka readied her camera. "Let's all split into groups of at least two. Then it would be obvious who the blackened would be if it happened again."

"Well, come on, Mukuro!" Ibuki linked her arm in mine and dragged me out of the gym. "Let's go look at the new floor!" 

"Do I have to?" I whispered, not making any effort to keep up with Ibuki nor break from her grasp. "Can't I just stay in my room and you tell me what you find." 

Ibuki shook her head. "Sorry, but nope! The stimulation would be amazing for you right now." 

"B-but I don't—"

"No buts! Butts are for slapping!" Ibuki shifted her body so she could walk backwards and face me, holding my heads in hers. "I'm sure there's a way we can get out of here on this floor, okay?"

I really didn't care. I couldn't care if we found out who put us in this situation. I just wanted to cry in my dead sister's dorm room and eat toast covered in butter. I didn't want to be pulled around like a stuffed toy. 

But Ibuki wouldn't take no for an answer. So I just nodded and let her drag me up the stairs.

/\/\/\/\

The hallway was completely blue, which was rather abnormal for a school; other than that, the hallway looked about the same as the one on the first floor. Another hallway of the same shade sprouted to the left; it lead to white double doors with round windows and a blue anchor painted on it. 

I almost got whiplash from Ibuki dragging me in a vastly different direction. "This must be a pool! Let's check it out!"

The doors opened to what seemed to be a locker room. The walls were painted a light green, and the floors were in a tiled pattern. Leaning against the wall to my right was a rack full of pool equipment like pool noodles, boards, and a life preserver hanging from the ceiling. On the back wall were two doors: one blue and one pink. In the middle of the room was Sayaka, taking picture of... a Gatling gun?

"What's a Gatling gun doing here?" Ibuki practically read my mind when she asked that. 

A flash of light came from a camera Sayaka was holding up to get a better angle of the aforementioned anomaly in the room. She turned around when she heard us; her face lit up. "Oh, hi guys! How are you?" 

I rolled my eyes. "Absolutely horrible—"

Ibuki slapped a hand over my mouth. "Absolutely great! Is this place a pool?"

Sayaka nodded. "Yep! Those two doors lead to the locker rooms, and according to Kotoko and Shuichi, there's a door in each locker room that leads to the pool." 

"Shuichi and Kotoko are here?" I searched the room, which was a fruitless endeavor since there was no place they could hide. "Where are they?" 

"Oh," Sayaka faced the locker room doors, "they're in the locker rooms. Or at the pool itself. Either or." 

"Well why aren't you at the pool?" Ibuki placed her head on my shoulder. 

Sayaka glanced at her camera. "Well I just wanted to get pictures of as much as possible for when we get out of here." 

"That makes sense..." I scratched my head with a sigh. "Do you know the deal with the gun?"

Sayaka looked up to the aforementioned Gatling gun hanging from the ceiling. "Sorry, no idea. Definitely something Monokuma added after he took us all hostage, though I'm sure that was obvious."

I would've snorted along with Sayaka's giggles and Ibuki's chuckles if I wasn't so depressed. It was cut short, however, when the boy's locker room opened with Shuichi coming through. 

"Hey, Shuichi!" Ibuki waved both her arms and bounced up and down. "What's up?"

"Ah, hi Ibuki." Shuichi smiled, probably just to be polite. "Not much. Just looking around the boys' locker room." 

"What did you find?" Sayaka asked. 

"Not much, really." Shuichi glanced back at the locker room he entered from. "Just some exercise equipment, benches, and a couple lockers. The most that stood out was a poster of a supermodel in a bikini." 

"Really?!" Ibuki screamed in excitement. "Ibuki wants to see the poster!"

Before anyone could restrain her, she bolted to the boys' locker room. She most likely would not have stopped if Monokuma rose up from the ground, barricading the door. 

Shuichi managed to catch Ibuki by the arm, causing her to slid to a halt before she ran over Monokuma. He must have realized that if she ran over Monokuma, she would have been punished, most likely in the same method that Tsumugi was.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Monokuma waved his arms around in front of him. "You cannot go past this door, Ms. Ibuki!" 

Ibuki tossed her head back in a groan and crossed her arms. "But why not?"

"Because this is the boys' locker room." Monokuma crossed his arms. "Are you a boy, Ibuki?"

Ibuki looked down her shirt. "Doesn't look like it."

"Then you cannot sneak into this here locker room!" Monokuma pointed to the gun. "You see that Gatling gun, there? If you take one step in the locker room, it'll go all DUKKA DUKKA DUKKA in you're body and you'll die."

"But isn't that what you want from us?" I asked. "To die?"

Monokuma dismissed me with a wave of his hand. "I want you guys to feel despair! That's not the same thing, you know." 

"Anyway," Shuichi pinched the bridge of his nose, "can't she just use her E-Handbook to unlock the locker room?" 

I glanced at the locker room doors. To the right, there was a black square the same width as the door knob. It looked like one of those locks that open with a card of some sorts. That must be how Shuichi unlocked the locker room. 

"Nope!" Monokuma answered. "Only boys' handbooks open the boys' locker room, and the same goes for the girls!" 

"And anyone who tries to sneak into the opposite sex's locker room will... be shot?" Sayaka asked. 

"What if someone lends their handbook to someone else?" Shuichi asked. "Then they would be able to get into the locker room."

"Wh—?!" Despite Monokuma always having one expression, he looked surprised. "That never even occurred to me! To think someone could be so low, so cowardly, so devilish!" Monokuma put his hand under his chin. "Hmm... okay, then how's this sound? Time for a new rule! As of this moment, loaning you e-handbook to another student is strictly prohibited. There! So now no living student can give their handbook to anyone else, right? You like that? I'm kind of a genius, right? It's cuz my brain is a hundred percent cotton."

"You seem awfully concerned with this security type of thing." Sayaka muttered.

"Hmm?" Monokuma tilted his head, acting innocent. "Do you think I shouldn't care?"

Sayaka shook her head. "N-no. I-I'm just surprised that you can excuse murder but draw the line at... intercourse."

"Well, that's because you teenagers are all sex-crazed maniacs! You're at that age you'd try humping a plastic bottle! So to keep anything unseemly from happening, I have to maintain a rigorous watch!"

"If that's the case, are you going to focus on our dorms as well?" Ibuki sounded disappointed when she asked that. 

"All I care about is protecting the holy image of the school itself. I don't care what happens in your private dorms!" Monokuma shrugged. 

Ibuki pumped a fist in the air. "Woohoo!"

"Okay, so the new regulation is in place! See ya!" Monokuma sunk down into the floor. 

"How does he do that?" I asked to no one in particular.

"I wonder if there are any posters of hot girls in the girls' room!" Ibuki dragged me to the aforementioned room. "Let's check it out." 

I knew Ibuki well enough to know that she wouldn't take no for an answer, so I didn't say anything. 

"Oh uh, bye guys." Sayaka waved awkwardly and drew her attention to her camera.

The girls' room was rather minimal, much like the previous room. The walls were pink, but the floor remained the same color. There were exercise equipment, like Shuichi said, and green lockers beside a blue door on the opposite side of the room. 

"Darn it!" Ibuki crossed her arms. "There's no hot girl posters in here! Just a dumb boy band one!" 

I walked over to what she was facing. There was, in fact, a poster, but not one with a model on it. It was a poster of Tornado: a popular boy band. 

"Do you not like that kind of genre?" I asked. 

Ibuki shook her head. "No. I'm more of a G.I.S.M. and Bathtub Shitter fan." 

I thought about the two bands she listed, subconsciously nodding my head in the process. "So you're a metal head? That honestly explains a bit about you."

"What about you?" Ibuki started to drag me to the blue door. "Any artists you like?"

Having been used to Ibuki pulling me around, I managed to catch up to her. "No, not really. I was never really a fan of music, but Junko..." 

Ibuki paused. She turned to me and lifted her hand from the doorknob to put it on my shoulder. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to." 

I swallowed hard. I knew that Junko was no longer with us, but anything that reminded me of her felt like a stab to the gut. Even saying her name made me want to vomit. I had no idea why. Did I not want to be reminded of Junko's ruined corpse? Is this a normal thing people grieving go through? I was clueless. 

"Come on." Ibuki moved her hand from my shoulder to my hand, gently tugging on it. "Let's check out the pool."

The pool was huge. There were white and blue ropes floating on the water that made six lanes, and two sets of rope held blue and white triangular flags over top of the pool. To the left and right of the pool were bleachers, and leaning on the back wall was a singular gray locker.

"Oh, hey guys!" 

We turned to one of the bleachers to see Kotoko sitting down, but when she saw us she stood up and began walking to us. "Fancy seeing you here." 

"Well, it's not like we can go anywhere else." I mumbled under my breath. 

Ibuki forced out a laugh. "Wow, Mukuro! You always know how to crack me up." She playfully punched me in the arm. "What a comedian, am I right?" 

"You don't have to cover for her. I'm not offended." Kotoko flashed a smile in my direction. "I know she's having a hard time, so a measly snarky comment like that can be excused." 

I forced a smile of my own. "Anything you discovered here?" 

"Not really. It seems like your average pool." Kotoko's face started to light up. "Oh! You know what this reminds me of? One time my family took me to a pool over the summer, and there was this adorbs baby duckling that snuck in. I really wanted to bring it home, but my parents didn't let me." 

"Wow." My voice was barely audible. "That's interesting." 

"Well, if that's all there is to the pool, we should go check out the other places as well." Ibuki guided me back to the girls' locker room. "Goodbye, Kotoko!"

Our next stop was the bathroom. Mostly because I felt like vomiting with how much social interaction Ibuki is forcing me through. The bathroom itself had three stalls and was an overall technicolor nightmare. Ibuki liked how colorful and bright it was. I didn't. 

The next room we explored was a classroom. The wallpaper was green with butterflies painted over, and there was a drawing of Monokuma sleeping on it, but aside from that, it was a regular classroom. 

I traced one of the butterflies with one of my fingers. It has been forever since I saw a bug, real or fake. I could feel some weight drift away from my shoulders the more I analyzed the drawing. 

Whoever drew this clearly did not know anything about Lepidoptera (the scientific order of butterflies), or at least didn't base it off of any real one. The closest species it looked like would be the Swallowtail butterfly, due to the wingspan and little tail on the end of the wings. 

"Oh, hey Nagito!" I heard Ibuki shout. 

I turned around from the wall to see Nagito sitting on one of the desks, holding a marker. He looked to be very concentrated in what he was working on before Ibuki called him. 

"Hm?" He looked up from his work, and broke into a smile. "Oh, hello Ibuki." He turned to me. "Hello, Mukuro." 

I pointed to the chalkboard. "You didn't happen to draw that, did you?"

Nagito laughed and stood up from his seat to join me in marveling at the chalkboard train wreck. "No. It was like that when I came in here. I thought about erasing it and drawing something way better, but I thought better of it. This drawing might have a clue to what's going on."

"Then what's with the marker?" Ibuki motioned to the black marker Nagito was holding.

"Oh, that." Nagito answered by rolling up his left sleeve and extending his arm. "I like to draw on my arm when I have no other canvas to use. I also draw on it when I'm stressed."

The art itself was nothing too impressive; it was just spirals and other geometric shapes, but that didn't stop me from admiring the work. The spirals were so expertly drawn and the emotions of anger and self-loathe were clearly being conveyed. 

"You really are the Ultimate Artist." I reluctantly tore my gaze away from the arm and looked into Nagito's eyes. "You're amazing." 

"Oh, please." Nagito waved his left arm in a dismissive motion and hurriedly pulled the sleeve back down. "This is just some spirals. It's nothing too special, anyway."

"On another topic," Ibuki sat on a desk and swayed her legs back and forth, "what are you doing here?"

"I didn't want to get in the way of anyone's investigations," Nagito put the marker into the pocket of his jacket, "so I'm just staying here."

"You wouldn't mind if I joined you, would I?" I said, one part of me joking, another part of me serious. "It's not like I'm helping Ibuki that much."

"No," Ibuki crossed her arms, "you're helping plenty! And you know what Nagito? You're coming with us."

"He is?" I asked. I couldn't fathom why Ibuki would want Nagito with us. Not that there's anything wrong with him. Sure, Nagito seemed a bit off and had some serious self esteem issues, but he seemed chill otherwise.

"I am?" Nagito asked, seeming to be just as confused as me. "But why, if you don't mind me asking."

"I'm glad you asked!" Ibuki placed her hands on her hips. "It has come to Ibuki's attention that you have no confidence whatsoever, and I want to help change that!"

"Don't argue." I advised with a sigh. "It's a fruitless endeavor."

Nagito shrugged. "Very well, then. Where are we going?"

The three of us exited the classroom and took a left. The hallway was twice as big and pink instead of blue. There were pillars holding up the ceiling due to how wide the hallway was, but other than that, it was rather barren. 

"Hey," I whispered to Nagito while we were walking, "how helpful is drawing to help with stress?"

"Well, it's helpful to me." He flashed a tiny smile. "Everyone's coping mechanisms work differently from what I've heard, but if I find any more skin safe markers, I'll be sure to give it to you." 

"Thanks." I reciprocated the smile and focused back onto where we were headed. 

It was a library. It wasn't as bright as the other rooms, but that was mostly due to the brown color in the library contrasted to the bright colors of the other rooms. Bookshelves lined up the wall to our right, a table with a laptop on it sat by the back wall next to a door, and there was a table with a chair in the center. 

"Hi, guys!" Ibuki waved to the people in the library. 

Taka, Peko, Hiyoko, and Miu all looked up from what they were doing and muttered greetings before resuming their tasks. Taka was by the desk with the laptop, Peko was sitting at the center table tuning her guitar, and Hiyoko and Miu were scanning through the books on the bookshelves. 

I inhaled shapely at the sight of so many people in one room. I hoped that they would understand that I wouldn't be in the mood for too much conversation. Peko might understand, Hiyoko might understand and leave me alone after an insult or two, Taka would be too oblivious, and unless Miu's attitude toward me changed in between yesterday and today, she would not have cared if I was grieving. 

I felt a slight push from Ibuki's hand. "Come, on. You should make some conversation, it's really healthy for people to interact, you know."

I exhaled deeply. Of course Ibuki would push me to talk to the people here. "Can I start with you, please?" I asked, mostly as an excuse to lengthen the time in between now and a potential panic attack. 

Ibuki gestured for me to go on. "What's up?"

"Do you like libraries?" It wasn't the best conversation starter, but knowing Ibuki, she most likely didn't mind.

"Nope." Ibuki crossed her arms with a pout. "Libraries are usually too quiet for my taste, and they never seem to like it when I blast my music."

I slowly nodded, not having the energy to argue with her. "What about reading? Any preferred genres?"

"Yes, actually. I have to know the characters I cosplay from somewhere. You can never go wrong with some manga." 

"Really? Well I'm more of a mystery novel fan, myself."

"Cool!" Ibuki looked over my shoulder. I followed her gaze and landed on Nagito. "What about you, Nagito? Any favorite books or genres?" 

"No, not really." Nagito shrugged. "The only events in which I ever read in my free time is when I'm looking for inspiration and muses." 

"That's what I do, too." A new voice added.

Nagito, Ibuki and I faced away from out conversation to find that the one who spoke was none other than Peko Pekoyama. Her intense red eyes stared right back at us as she leaned on her guitar. "Use books and literature to search for inspiration, I mean."

"Really? Glad I'm not alone." Nagito smiled apologetically. "Sorry if we interrupted anything." 

"Oh, you're alright." Peko glanced down at her guitar. "I was just providing some acoustics while everyone searched. That's all I'm really good for, anyway." 

I tensed up. If Ibuki heard that, then she would force Peko to join our slowly forming party. I'm already intimidated by her as it is, I would die of anxiety if I had to make conversation with her.

Luckily enough, Ibuki joined Hiyoko and Miu by the bookcase, so she most likely didn't hear the tail end of that conversation. 

Peko was back to strumming her guitar, seemingly done with the conversation. I was a tad bit bummed that I didn't get to know her more from that conversation, but I was also relieved. There's only so much social interaction a depressed girl could take. 

Nagito leaned over to be in my peripheral vision. "How're you feeling?"

"Not good." I wanted to leave it at that, but my mouth had other plans. "I just want to be back in my bed and sleep this whole mess away. And as much as I'm appreciating Ibuki being here for me, her constant bugging me to talk to people is getting rather annoying." 

It wasn't entirely wrong. Every time I talked to someone new, I felt like crying. My body already felt heavy with the grief and depression that filled Junko's void; attempting to talk to people I met three days ago was only making things worse. 

"You know, I could distract her." Nagito suggested. "You can sneak out of here and head your room to do whatever you want. I could cover for you, and I could come over when this is all done and inform you on what we found."

I desperately tried to search Nagito's face for any doubt or deception in his pale face. A twitch of his lips, avoiding eye contact, a scratch on his neck, anything. Unfortunately, I wasn't Junko, so I came up with nothing. 

I so desperately wanted to take his offer. I didn't want to use up all my energy speaking whilst holding back tears. I just wanted to scream and kick and cry in the comfort of Junko's own dorm room. 

But it would show the others how weak I am. Sure, I had come to terms with the reality that I will never be someone like Junko, but that was before I was thrusted into this situation. I believed what Hiyoko said earlier that day: another killing will happen. In my current state, I'd be the easiest target in the school. I needed to become strong. I need to get out of here. Not just for me, but for Junko. I need to keep her memory alive, and I'll be damned if her lasting legacy is being a martyr.

"No thank you." I told Nagito. "I could probably use the social interaction."

"Very well." Nagito shrugged and joined Ibuki over by the bookshelf. 

I steadied my breathing and made my way towards the back of the room. Might as well get the loudest person in the room out of the way. "Hello, Taka. Is that a laptop?"

Taka was sitting at the chair the desk provided. He was poking and prodding at the aforementioned device before turning to me with a great snug smile. "Well, hello Mukuro! Good to see you're not holed up in your room!"

I immediately regretted my decision to talk to him first, but I just nodded in agreement and hoped that my smile didn't get any more strained. 

"As for your question, this is in fact a laptop! While I was searching on my own, Peko over there called me over to this place to see if there was anything this computer could give us!" Taka put his hands on his hips, proud of himself. "I am probably the most tech savvy person in this building! No offense."

"None taken." My reply was genuine. Taka was the Ultimate Inventor, after all; it's no wonder he would be one of the fist people that Peko would think about when she saw the laptop on the desk. "Did you find anything so far?"

Taka's smile faltered. "Unfortunately, no. But I did find some files left on it. I'm working on decrypting and hacking through it, but those kind of things take a lot of time and effort." 

"So you did find something." I muttered. "Anyway, do you have an estimated time on when that you would finish?" 

"Also no." Taka answered. "I'm not doing the hacking myself, per se. I created a device to do that for me. It's one I've made numerous of times in the past, so finding the materials was easy. It all depends on how much content the files contain, which is unknown at the moment." 

"Good to know." I looked over Taka's shoulder to find that the laptop was covered in numbers (probably code) and symbols that I couldn't even comprehend. "I'll leave you to it, then."

I headed for the bookshelves, hoping a good mystery novel or bug encyclopedia would be able to relax my mind. The books were very dusty, like no one had visited or used this library for a long while. 

"Out of the way, pig barf!" Hiyoko jerked me away from the shelf and took my place, examining the books. 

"Sorry..." I was about to turn away and investigate elsewhere when I thought otherwise. I needed to be strong, I can't let these thoughts get the better of me. I turned back around and stood right beside Hiyoko. "Do you have a favorite genre?"

Hiyoko looked at me like I just came out of a dumpster. "What kind of question is that? Man, you're bad at conversation." I thought that was the end of it, but Hiyoko continued. "I'll at least humor you. I like information books. Specifically ones about culture and art. Specifically ones on Japan."

"Cool... did you find any books like that here?" I asked, "or at least where the nonfiction section is?"

"No, but seeing that this is the only bookshelf I haven't checked, this is probably it." Hiyoko took out a random book and flipped through the pages. "Man, these are super dusty. That ugly bear definitely didn't take care of them."

"Well, books are becoming more and more outdated..." That wasn't exactly the best thing to say, but in my defense, I was going through a lot.

Hiyoko's lack of a verbal answer signaled to me that she was done with the conversation. I let out a sigh of relief and made my way to another section within the library. 

"Hey, Mukuro!" I heard Ibuki call out. She and Nagito were by a small lone bookshelf in the middle of the room. "Come over here!"

I did so, not having any energy to argue. "What's up?"

Ibuki held up a folded piece of paper with two fingers. "Look what I found?"

I took the letter and began to unfold it. It was a letter from the administrators of Hope's Peak. "Where did you find this?" 

"Right here." Nagito tapped on the top of the bookshelf. "And according to Peko, it was there when they first arrived."

"Really?" I started to read the letter as quickly as possible, scanning for anything if importance.

"From the Hope's Peak Executive Office. 

"Throughout the years, we have been committed to shaping the youth who will one day shape the world. We have a long, proud history as an institution of higher learning with full governmental support. Our graduates enter society ready to take on active leadership roles in every major job field. 

"However, Hope's Peak Academy must now lower the curtain on its glorious history, for the time being. This decision was not an easy on to make, but serious issues beyond our control have made it necessary. 

"But make no mistake—this is not the end for Hope's Peak Academy. We intend to reopen our doors as soon as the issues forcing our closure have been resolved. That being said, this is the end for now... and I would like to thank everyone for your help and support over the years. 

"For now, we are awaiting official governmental authorization to formally cease operations..."

I folded the letter back up and handed it back to Ibuki. "Hope's Peak shut down?" 

"If what the letter said is true, then yes." Nagito crossed his arms. 

"But that doesn't make any sense." I argued. "It looked up and running when Junko and I entered he building." 

"Same here." Ibuki chimed in. 

"Let's wait to discuss it when we meet back up in the dining hall." Nagito suggested. "Then we could have more opinions."

"Sounds like a plan." I turned to Ibuki. "I think we've gleaned as much as we can from the library."

"Then let's go to whatever else is one this floor!" Ibuki linked her arms in both mine and Nagito's and dragged us out of the library.

The most we found was another classroom that looked the same as the one we found Nagito in. After some investigation, we decided to head back to the dining hall to wait for everyone else.

/\/\/\/\

It didn't take long for everyone else to shuffle into the dining hall, and it didn't take long for the meeting to start. 

"So who should go first?" Nagito twirled his black marker around with his hand. 

"Well, Shuichi, Sayaka and I found a pool." Kotoko said. "It's really big and full of exercise equipment."

"There's also a library." Miu added. "But there's no graphic novels or manga, so it's a shitty one if you ask me." 

"But no one asked you." I mumbled under my breath, causing Ibuki, Nagito, and Hiyoko to snicker. 

"Also, two new things opened on this floor." Makoto said as he scratched his dogs' necks. "A bathhouse and a warehouse. The warehouse has a lot of things, like clothes, more food, and other things." 

"Was there anything to help us get out of here?" Hiyoko asked. "Or any weapons?"

Makoto shook his head. "No, just luxury items. Nothing like that." 

"Is there anything else?" Nagito asked. "No? Nothing? Then I'd like to add something." He slapped the letter on the table. 

"The fuck is that?" Fuyuhiko snatched up the letter and began to read it. 

"It was in the library when we first entered." Hiyoko said. "Apparently it's a letter written by the executives of Hope's Peak, saying that they had to shut down the school." 

"But that doesn't make any sense." Sayaka said. "It looked up and running when I entered the school a few days ago." 

Mumbles of agreement echoed around the room. 

"What if you didn't enter a couple days ago?" I heard Shuichi mutter. 

"What do you mean by that?" Peko asked. Apparently he spoke louder than he meant to. 

Shuichi looked like a deer in headlights as he pulled his cap down to hide his face. "O-oh, sorry. I-I was just talking to m-myself. Don't mind m-me." 

"But it sounds like you're into something, there." Makoto added. "I think a theory of what's going on would be better than absolutely nothing." 

"But what if his little theory is wrong?" Nagito shot a cold glare in Shuichi's direction. "He is talentless, after all, so his theory is most likely wrong." 

Shuichi shrunk into his seat even more. "Y-yeah, just ignore me." 

"Well, I have some great news!" Taka beamed and stood up from his seat. "There is a computer in the library containing files. I have invented a device that will decrypt and hack the files so we can all read them!" 

"How long will that take?" Hiyoko asked. 

After an awkward pause, Taka sat back down. "I have no idea! It depends on how much content there is in each of the files!" 

Mahiru rolled her eyes. "At least one man around here is reliable. The rest of you boys need to follow Taka's example." 

"And be a weirdo like him?" Fuyuhiko scoffed. "No, thank you." 

/\/\/\/\

Monokuma's morning announcement was different today. He said something about the rules being updated. It was probably something about what he discussed with me, Ibuki, Shuichi, and Sayaka at the pool locker room yesterday.

I fell right back asleep after the announcement; I had hoped that that would be the only disturbance for my sleep. Then I remember that Ibuki existed. She started ringing my doorbell like crazy and dragged me to the dining hall after I got myself ready (with Ibuki watching; I don't know if she was motivating me to actually get ready or if she just wanted to see me naked).

I didn't want any kind of social interaction that day. I made that clear by playing with my food and not making any effort to talk. Luckily enough, everyone around me did the talking.

"Do you guys know where Mahiru and Fuyuhiko are?" I heard Makoto ask. 

"Mahiru was actually here a while ago." I heard Peko say. "I do not know where she is now." 

"Alright, what about Fuyuhiko? Any idea where he is?"

"No, I have not seen him all morning." 

"Didn't he say that he wouldn't be joining us?" Nagito asked. "That would explain why he's not here."

"And thank god for that!" Hiyoko giggled. "He's such a downer, though he is easy to get a reaction out of."

I heard Shuichi chuckle nervously. "But do you think that..." he didn't have to say what he was thinking. 

"Don't be stupid, Pooichi!" Miu said. "No one would be that dumb to go after a fucking prince!"

The conversation came to a halt at the sound of footsteps entering the dining hall. I was too focused on playing with me food to see who it was. 

"Hey, guys." Mahiru said, followed by the screeching of a chair moving across the floor. "I'm back." 

"Why did you temporarily leave the dining hall?" Taka asked. 

"I wanted to make sure that everyone came to the dining hall. This is what the breakfast meetings are for, after all." Mahiru explained. 

"Let me guess," Ibuki drummed her fingers on the table, "Fuyuhiko didn't want to come?" 

Mahiru sighed. "Yeah. I tried to get him to join us, but he's just so stubborn! He will not leave his room."

"Speak of the devil," Peko muttered, "greetings, Fuyuhiko."

That sentence caused me to look up from my food. I looked around to see the Ultimate Prince himself walking to the kitchen. 

"About time you showed up!" Mahiru scolded. Looking at her now, she was glaring at Fuyuhiko, and she had balled up her fists. "What took you so long."

"I'm not here to make friends, bitch." Fuyuhiko snapped. "I'm just here to get some food to take to my room. That's it."

"Wow." I looked at Hiyoko when she said that; she started to fall back on her seat, laughing. "What a short little loser! Just say you don't have people skills!"

Hiyoko definitely struck a nerve. Fuyuhiko looked like he was about to lunge across the room and strangle her. "It's not that, bastard! I just believe that this shit is a waste of time!" 

"And why's that?" Mahiru stood up from her seat. "We have to get to know each other somehow."

Fuyuhiko laughed at that statement. "And why's that? So you can cry some more when your so-called friends inevitably die? Sounds more like a nuisance to me."

I tensed up at the sight of Mahiru making her way to Fuyuhiko. "Geez! You're such an idiot! That won't happen if we work together to get out of here. It would do you good to not make enemies."

"Is that a threat, Koizumi?" 

"Haven't decided yet, your highness."

Fuyuhiko went stiff at the sound of his title. It took took him at least a couple second to regain his composure with a smirk. "Well it doesn't sound like you're following you're own advice, now does it?"

While Mahiru stayed silent, I used that as an opportunity to glance around the room. Everyone else was watching the arguement play out in either anticipation or fear. The whole room was silently watching what would happen. 

"Let this be a warning." Fuyuhiko started. I had the feeling it wasn't directed at Mahiru exclusively. "I will get out of here. One way or the other. If you don't want to become another victim, stay the fuck outta my way!" He shoved Mahiru to the side and speed walked to the kitchen. 

"What stick is up his ass, holy shit." Miu muttered. "You alright, Moronhiru?" 

"Physically, yes." Mahiru sat back down. "But that boy sure does get on my nerves. I could really use a Gamegirl to soothe my nerves right now." 

The conversation continued as I tuned out to play with my food some more. I could not get that conversation out of my head. Will Fuyuhiko really murder someone? Will he go after Mahiru? Is Mahiru scared at all?

And why did I see Fuyuhiko glance in my direction several times the entire time he was in the dining hall?

/\/\/\/\

"Hey, Shuichi?" After breakfast was over, I walked up to the aforementioned lucky student. "Can we talk?" 

Shuichi fiddled with his cap—a way to keep himself from making eye contact—and looked at the ground. "S-sure. What's up?" 

I gestured for him to follow me out of the dining hall. "I'd prefer to talk somewhere more private." 

"... O-okay then." 

After I made sure that we were out of earshot of everyone, I stopped the two of us and faced him. "Did I do anything wrong?"

Shuichi blinked. "W-what are you talking about?" 

"The other day, when you abruptly left." I clarified. "Did I do anything to insult you?" 

Shuichi's mouth hung open, yet no sound came out. He must have been looking for the right way to let me down easily. 

"If you don't want to be friends with me, just tell me. I'd hate to get in your way..." 

"N-no! It's not that!" Shuichi put a hand on my shoulder. "It's just... I'm scared I'll hurt you." 

"And by that, do you mean your luck?" 

Shuichi nodded. "I caused you enough pain already..." 

"What do you mean, Shuichi?" It sounded more accusatory than confused when I said it, but it wasn't like I could take it back. 

Shuichi sucked in a breath. "That night..." I didn't need to ask to know what night he was talking about, "... I went to the store that's in the school, and I..." tears started to well up in his eyes, "...I got some really amazing things, and I got an extra five tries without even paying a-anything..."

"And whenever you have good luck, someone around you experiences bad luck..." I repeated what Shuichi said to me all those days ago. 

Shuichi clutched his elbow with his hand. "Then you know what I'm trying to say." 

That Shuichi killed Junko with his luck.

I sighed. "Look, as much as I feel sorry for you thinking that way, I cannot handle being someone's therapist right now. You should go talk to someone else about it. Preferably Makoto or Ibuki." 

Shuichi made eye contact with me for the first time since we arrived here. His eyes were a light gray, and had very feminine eyelashes like Junko said. "T-then... then you don't think..." 

"The jury's still out on this one." I rolled my eyes. "Give me time to think about it. It'll be obvious whether I forgive you or not. Now if you excuse me, I should go find Ibuki." 

I didn't look back to gauge Shuichi's reaction as I marched myself to Ibuki's dorm room.

/\/\/\/\

"... and that's how I almost ended up in a foreign country!" Ibuki laughed to herself. "That kind of stuff happens all the time to Ibuki when she wanders like that."

Ibuki and I were on the bed of her dorm room today. She practically begged me to let her brush my hair, and I agreed. She looked like she knew a lot about hairstyling, seeing that she managed to make two perfect cone shapes with her hair. 

"What about you, Mukuro? Any interesting stories?" 

"No... not really. Though there was a time where my family left me in Europe." 

"Really?! That sounds fun!" 

"Well, it wasn't fun at first, but when I came across a research facility that studied bugs, they let me stay there in exchange for helping then with their research, and that's how I became the famous entomologist I am today." 

"Wow, that's awesome!" 

"How did you get into Cosplay?"

"Good question! Long story short, I liked reading manga and watching anime, I liked making my own outfits, and then one day I decided to mix the two! Apparently a bunch of people also did what I did, so I was ecstatic to find such a community." 

"... can I ask you something?" 

"Of course! Ibuki is a great listener!"

"What's your opinion on Shuichi?" 

"Oh, him? Well, Ibuki hasn't had a conversation with him yet, but she thinks that he would be a great friend." 

"Well, he thinks that his luck killed Junko."

The brush in Ibuki's hand slowed to a stop. "What? H-how does that even work?" 

"From what he told me, whenever he experiences good luck, someone else around him experiences bad luck, and vice versa. He happened to be extremely lucky on that night..." 

"...Mukuro, can you look at me, please?" 

I obeyed, rotating my body so Ibuki looked at my face instead of my back. I didn't attempt to mask my emotions, for I wanted to gauge her reaction to my genuine confusion. 

I couldn't read anything in Ibuki's face. Was she purposefully concealing her thoughts, or am I in too much of a funk to read her face? 

Ibuki put hand to my cheek, brushing away the tears I didn't even know were falling. "What do you think?" 

"I-I don't know." I answered truthfully. "I have a hard time believing that Shuichi getting nice gifts at the shop caused Junko's death, but... I can't help but believe him." 

"And do you blame him?" 

"I don't know!" I threw my hands up in frustration. "What do you think I should do?" 

"Well... do you think he should've been executed instead of Tsumugi?" 

I immediately shook my head. "N-No! Not at all! That bitch deserved what she got." 

"And did Shuichi feel any regret?" 

"... well, he refused to make eye contact with me, and he stuttered a little bit... as if he was scared of my reaction..." 

"And what do you think that means?" 

"... that he feels really sorry..." 

"Exactly! You should forgive him. It's not like he can control his luck, after all!" 

"... b-but he—" 

"No buts! You should forgive him. You need to forgive him. Imagine how horrible he feels!" 

"But what about how I feel?" I had to fight the urge to scream. "Isn't that just as important?" 

"Of course, but if you forgive Shuichi, you can move on easier!" 

I physically deflated at the answer. If Shuichi had a part in Junko's murder, how in the world could I forgive him? How would that make me feel any better knowing that Shuichi would get off scot free?

But I came to Ibuki for a reason. I needed a second opinion from someone I trust. I shouldn't be disappointed in her for saying something that 8 didn't agree with. 

"You're right." I looked down at my hands. "Sorry if I yelled at you." 

"Hey, it's all right!" Ibuki took my hands in hers and lifted me up. "Now let's continue styling your hair!"

/\/\/\/\

I've gotten used to Ibuki waking me up and dragging me to the dining hall at this point. It's a shame how little I fight back when I don't want to do anything. I guess that shows how weak I am.

Conversation buzzed around me as if I wasn't even there, much to my minuscule delight. They must have noticed how little energy I had; I didn't even have enough energy to even eat! 

"Hey," I heard Ibuki ask, "where's Miu?"

"No idea." I heard Sayaka answer. "I get that Fuyuhiko is not coming, but why is Miu not here?" 

"I actually saw her in the laundry room." Peko mentioned. "She said that she'll be a little late today." 

I relaxed my shoulders. I was glad that Miu wasn't here. Not only did her strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and crude demeanor remind me of Junko, but she had gone out of her way to antagonize me the day of Junko's murder. She hadn't been targeting me recently: a small mercy, but it wouldn't surprise me if she decided to hurl every insult she could think of in my direction the minute she laid eyes on me. 

I pushed the plate with my barely eaten food on it away from me. My stomach was throbbing; was it out of grief? Am I becoming sick? 

I turned to Ibuki. "I'm probably going to head back to my room, now. My stomach isn't doing well."

Ibuki tilted her head. "Really? Alright. Would you like me to go with you?" 

I shook my head. "I'm pretty sure I can handle walking to my room. And don't worry, I promise I'll socialize with people when I'm better, okay?"

Ibuki narrowed her eyes, suspecting me, but she slowly nodded nonetheless. "Okay. Don't hesitate to let me know if you need my help. I'll probably be in my room."

I smiled—the first genuine smile in a while—and gave Ibuki a side hug. "Thank you, Ibuki." I whispered in her ear. 

"O-of course!" 

The second I stepped out of the dining hall, tears started to well up in my eyes and the pained in my stomach swelled. Sure, I was still grieving Junko, but this burst was... random. 

I didn't have much time to ponder on it, as I was slammed against the wall. One hand was over my mouth, muffling my groan in pain. The opposite was balled up in a fist as they pushed their forearm into my chest, insuring that I wouldn't break free. 

"You think that you're just so smart, aren't you, Pookuro?" 

Miu Iruma was inches from my face, her eyes flaming with... anger? I couldn't really say. I was too busy internally freaking out. Is she going to kill me?

"You humiliated me that day."

That day? Did she mean the day of the class trial when I proved her wrong? It was her fault for believing that I was the culprit. Did she expect me to pretend to be so I could boost her ego?

"Let me tell you something, you titless fuck." She whispered in my ear. "I will get my revenge on you, one day. And you will regret crossing me."

She uncovered my mouth and let me go, only to grab the collar of my shirt. "You really are pathetic, thinking that you'll ever be more that just a fugly little bug bitch. What makes you think that you'll be anything more than that?" 

I didn't say anything. I was too busy holding back the tears that were previously falling. I would not give Miu the joy of seeing me break. 

Miu let go and began walking to the dining hall like nothing happened. "You will never be like Junko. You really should have died instead of her."

That was the last I saw of her, as I scrambled to Junko's dorm and cried my heart out, repeating the exact same phrase Miu said to me. 

/\/\/\/\

After my bout of crying, I made my way to the library. I wanted to see if there were any books on bugs or any mystery novels. After scanning through the titles the library had, most of the books they had were nonfiction, or informative textbooks on numerous different topics. I ended up choosing a book on spiders and sat down on the table. 

A lot of people are usually confused when they find out some entomologists study spiders. I could see the confusion, seeing that they aren't exactly insects. In reality, some entomologists study arthropods, which is a classification spiders belong to along with scorpions and crabs.

I personally haven't focused on those types of species, but I've been wanting to branch out and study as much as my talent will let me. Might as well use my talent for as many fields as possible instead of narrowing it down to one type of insect. 

My reading was interrupted by the slamming of a book across from me. It startled me enough to physically jump and lose my place, much to my chagrin. 

"Someone's jumpy." Hiyoko sneered as she sat right across from me. "That's fair, I guess. Ugly girls like you are the ones who usually die first." 

I ignored her and continued to read. I knew that this was how Hiyoko was like to everyone, so it didn't hurt as much as my recent encounter with Miu, who went out of her way to target me exclusively. 

"While you're here," Hiyoko closed the book I was reading, forcing me to acknowledge her, "can I ask you something?" 

I wordlessly nodded and braced for whatever insult she would throw at me. 

"Do bug weirdos like you study bugs in general? Or do you study a specific type of bug?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. I was surprised she was curious about such a topic, given her hate for ants. Oh well, might as well humor her.

"Well, some do," I began, "most entomologists focus on a specific type of invent like beetles or ladybugs. But there are ones who don't study a specific type of bug and instead study something amidst all bugs, like evolution, life cycles, cultural significance, stuff like that."

"And what do you study?" 

"Oh, I'm one of those entomologists that don't have a specific field. If I'm as talented as they say, it'd be a waste to just go down one rabbit hole instead of broadening my horizons."

"And what do entomologists... do exactly? Do you just watch bugs go through a life cycle and jot down notes?" 

I managed out a genuine laugh. "Most do, but others bury themselves in notes to find similarities between insects. Ive heard of some entomologists that even use their expertise to decipher when people were killed." 

"Really? That sounds disgusting!" 

"I get that a lot," I tucked a lock of black hair behind my ear, "bugs aren't for everyone, and as much as I enjoy the subject, it's not that exciting a field." 

"You can say that again. I almost pity you for enjoying such ugly things." 

"Well what about you? Do anthropologists study specific fields? Or is it as concentrated as entomology?"

"Are you serious?" Hiyoko looked almost surprised at the question. "W-Well... anthropology itself is a division in one of the social sciences. There's sociology, psychology, even economics." 

"Well, humans are way more complicated than bugs ever will be, to be fair." 

"Don't interrupt me, pig barf! Anyway, anthropology itself is divided into four more categories: biological anthropology, the study of human genetic behavior, cultural anthropology, which studies culture, obviously, linguistic anthropology, which studies language and how humans communicate, and archaeology. Surely you know what archaeology is, unless you've been living under a rock."

"No, I know what that is. And from what I've heard, you're a cultural anthropologist?" 

"Yeah. I'm surprised you've heard of me, though. Are you a stalker or actually interested in anthropology?" 

"Neither. It's just that you seem to have a fascination with art, both from what I've seen and from what Junko told me." 

"So she's the creep then? Wow. Thank god she's dead now." 

I decided to turn my focus back to my reading after that sentence. I came here for a distraction, not a brutal reminder. Here I was thinking Hiyoko wouldn't slap me in the face with such a crude exclamation. 

"What? Are you ignoring me now?" 

More silence. Just focus on spiders. They won't tell you that your sister is dead. 

"I asked you a question, you fugly bitch!" 

Common predators of spiders are scorpions, monkeys, and lizards. 

"W-wow. I-I thought we were getting along!" 

Spiders can be found all over the world, ranging from deserts, to rainforests, to tundra.

The next time I looked up from my book, I saw Hiyoko hurriedly walk out of the library. Her footsteps and sniffles slowly but surely quieted down, leaving me in peace to read.

/\/\/\/\

There were no insects in the school at all. I've looked. 

There were no ants crawling their way to the kitchen, no spiders spinning their webs in dark corners, no flies, nothing. 

I wondered if that is Monokuma's doing. If I got my hands on some sort of species, I'd be able to determine where we were based on its natural habitat, or even what season it was based on the species' behavior. 

Maybe the lack of bugs was a result of how tightly sealed the building was. If ants couldn't even find a way inside, we would have a lot of trouble getting outside. 

My theorizing was shoved to the sidelines at the sound of music. 

It was the strumming of a guitar. It sounded... peaceful. I immediately felt my troubles drifting away as I followed the music to a classroom. 

"Mukuro?" The strumming stopped when I entered the classroom. Of course, the music was created by none other than Peko Pekoyama. "Do you need something?" 

"O-oh!" I squeezed the doorway with my hand. "N-no, I just thought that... your music is amazing." 

Peko looked away. "T-thank... thank you." 

"I-I'm sorry I interrupted whatever you were doing." I pointed towards the doorway. "I-I can leave if you want." 

Peko sighed and cradled her guitar. "What you do doesn't matter. I'll keep on playing whether or not you stay here." 

She started playing again, paying no attention to my panicking self. Should I stay? Should I leave? Should I talk to her? 

This social interaction thing is bullshit. 

I ended up sitting next to Peko, looking at her guitar. It was made of pitch black wood, causing the light brown strings to shine even brighter due to the contrast. It looked very well taken care of. 

Peko's fingers smoothly glided across the guitar. One hand plucking away, the other moving against the arm, holding down strings in different places. Her eyes were focused, making sure her fingers were in the right places. 

"You're amazing..." I said. 

Peko looked up, halti f the strumming." Thank you. You... seem really good with bugs..." 

I put a hand to my mouth to stifle a snort. "Thanks. If you don't mind me asking, how did you discover your talent for music?" 

Peko drummed her fingers on the guitar, lost in thought. "I... don't know how to answer that. I guess I found a guitar one day, and something clicked." 

"Ah... I guess that makes sense. It sort of was the same thing for me." 

"... do you like being an entomologist?" 

"What? Yeah, of course I do. I love the work I do. I wouldn't change it for the world, even if I didn't have this talent... what about you?" 

Peko sighed. "I... I don't know. It would be nice to do something other than play the guitar." 

"Do... do you hate your talent?" 

"No it not that. I... I just wish I was more than just a musician." 

"Well what's stopping you? I'm sure people wouldn't mind you having a hobby outside of music." 

"Well... there is something that would be nice to do..." 

"What's that?" 

"... I'd like to be able to pet fluffy animals in my spare time." Peko's lips twisted upward. It was the closest I saw Peko smile. 

"Well I'm sure Makoto would be more than accepting of that hobby." I glanced at the doorway. "He would let you pet his dogs." 

"You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?" 

"No. But knowing him, he's probably in the dining hall. Either that or in his room." 

"Then I will make my way there right now." She packed up her guitar and walked out the door. "Good bye, Mukuro." 

/\/\/\/\

My doorbell rang a little after nighttime started. 

"What?" I said to myself as I sat up. Ibuki hadn't checked up on me during nighttime before. What caused her to start now?

I opened the door; it wasn't Ibuki. 

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu didn't even wait for me to acknowledge him. He immediately walked in. "Close the door." 

I couldn't remember if I did what he said out of fear or indifference. Either way, I did so. "F-Fuyuhiko? W-what—"

"Shut up and eat." He took out what looked like a plastic bag of potato chips and tossed it in my direction. 

I was proud of myself for catching it with two hands. "Isn't the dining hall closed? How did you get this?"

"The warehouse is still open." Fuyuhiko sat on my bed. "Are you to eat or what, bastard?"

"O-oh, yeah." I tore the bag open with a pop and put a chip in my mouth. "S-so... what are you doing here?"

"You weren't eating." Fuyuhiko said. "And no one else noticed, so I thought that I might as well help." 

I sat right beside him. "I-I thought you weren't here to make friends, though." 

Fuyuhiko scoffed. "Who said we're friends? I'm doing this out of pity. You were looking real fucking pathetic these past couple of days."

"R-right sorry." I shoved more chips into my mouth, if only to have an excuse to not talk to the intimidating prince right beside me. 

Why is he doing this? Are these secretly poisoned? Is he secretly really sweet and the tough persona was just an act? 

"You need to physically take care of yourself." Fuyuhiko took a chip from the bag. "When you're healthy, it's easier for you to cope with your emotions. You don't want to feel shitty forever, do you?" 

I paused. "I... I never really thought about that... I don't really want to live in a world without Junko." 

"Okay save the tears for when I leave." 

"Right, my bad." 

"It's also good for you to maintain your hobbies and interests. Not only will it help you get your mind off of the pain, but getting into a routine will be comforting." 

The next hour was spent with Fuyuhiko teaching me how to properly cope with Junko's death. He talked about the symptoms I might experience while grieving, both mental and physical. He told me to keep up my physical strength, and that it's okay to face my feelings on that matter.

"Now that I told you everything," Fuyuhiko rose up from the bed he was sitting on, "I should head back to my room. This shit was tiring." 

"Hey, Fuyuhiko?" I said just before he closed my door. "Can I ask how you know this stuff?"

Fuyuhiko stopped dead in his tracks, but didn't turn to face me. Did I say the wrong thing? Was he thinking up a lie for me to eat up? 

"I lost a sister, too." Fuyuhiko's voice was barely a whisper. "That's all you need to know."

He slammed the door behind him, leaving me with many questions. 

/\/\/\/\

Remembering Fuyuhiko's advice from last night, I forced myself to eat breakfast instead of mindlessly playing with it. After two waffles, I felt way better and content than I had ever since the day of Junko's death. I wasn't a hundred percent, but it was a start. 

I excused myself from the meeting not too long after. The conversations weren't that interesting the eavesdrop on, so I wasn't missing out on too much. I needed to clean my bedsheets, anyway. It took a little while for me to shove the thick sheets into the washing machine, but I managed. 

With a skip in my step, I made my way to Junko's dorm. It would probably do me good to clean up the place and add my own touches. 

"OPEN THE FUCK UP, BASTARD!" A voice screamed from the dorm hallway. 

I immediately recognized the voice as Fuyuhiko and swiftly headed in that direction. He was probably checking up on me. 

I was correct. Fuyuhiko was pounding on my door furiously. He probably saw me in the corner of his eye; his face turned beet red as he faced me. 

I suppressed a laugh. "We're you looking for me?"

Fuyuhiko dusted off his pants and walked towards me. "I was. Where the hell were you?" 

I looked back in the direction I came. "I was cleaning my bedsheets. Sorry if I worried you." 

Fuyuhiko looked away. "It's nothing like that. Follow me." 

He didn't wait for me to follow as he walked away. I had to lightly jog to catch up to him and meet his pace. We stopped at the library. Fuyuhiko entered and signaled me to follow, so I did so.

"What are we doing here?" I asked. "Why did you take me here?"

"Easy." Fuyuhiko took a book off the shelf. "We are reading in silence together." 

"Really?" I grabbed the book I read yesterday before Hiyoko interrupted me. "I'm not complaining, but why?"

"Because that colorful bastard—" he must mean Ibuki— "is dragging you around everywhere, forcing you to talk to people. You look like you need the quiet time." 

"You're... not wrong." I sat down in one of the chairs and clutched the book to my chest. "But Ibuki means well. I probably would still be holed up in my room if it weren't for her." 

"But she's dragging you around like a stuffed animal or some shit." Fuyuhiko sat across from me. "You need to assert yourself." 

"I guess..."

The next hour was spent in silence as I read the book on spiders. I already knew half the facts I read from the book, as they were common facts that any entomologist would know. Life cycles, diet, common predators, and habitats. 

Spiders were very common at the Fenrir Facility; with all the bugs we kept, it probably looked like an all you can eat buffet for them. When I first arrived. I jumped at the sight of them. Now, I just roll my eyes and stomp on them, but only if they're not supposed to be there, like in a bathroom or building. If I found a spider in a forest, I'd just leave them be.

Fuyuhiko cleared his throat, prompting me to look up from my book. "If you want, we can keep on doing this. We can meet up after nighttime and read in silence." 

"That sounds nice." I traced my fingers over the book. "But eventually, I might start rambling to you about what I find in these."

"That's fine as long as you don't expect me to remember what you say." Fuyuhiko slammed his book shut. "I'll be here tonight, you don't have to show up if you don't want to. But either way, don't tell anyone about this, got it?"

"I'll think about it... thank you, Fuyuhiko."

"Don't get sappy, bastard. Remember, this is out of pity."

/\/\/\/\

After reading with Fuyuhiko, I decided to make my way to the dining hall for a late dinner. I needed the nutrients after neglecting it for a couple days. 

I managed to find the ingredients for a peanut butter sandwich with some honey sprinkled on. At the Fenrir facility, we had our own honey supply, due to having a large amount of bees contained there. Honey always seemed to make everything way sweeter, no matter the food, and it helped the bees whenever we took some of the honey, so I decided to use honey as much as possible without going overboard.

"Geeeez!" A voice said immediately after I finished making my sandwich.

I poked my head out of the kitchen to find Mahiru in a bad mood. She had her arms crossed and leaned against her chair. 

I sat down across from her. "Are you alright, Mahiru?" 

"Hmm?" Mahiru looked up at me. "Oh, I'm fine. Just annoyed." 

"Do you mind me asking what your annoyed about?" I asked. 

"Well, it's just that despite this whole situation, Sayaka kept her camera and Peko kept her guitar." 

"And...?" 

"And I didn't get to keep my gamegirl!" Mahiru ran a hand through her bobbed red hair. "My villagers must be worried sick about their poor mayor..." 

"Animal Crossing?" I asked. 

Mahiru nodded. "Yeah. Those are the games I prefer to play. Simulator games that let you be creative. Animal crossing is what I'm most famous for. Do you play Animal Crossing?" 

"No." I shook my head. "I was never one for video games, but Animal Crossing seems to get their facts about insects right, so it has my respect." 

"Oh yeah, you're the Ultimate Entomologist, correct?" 

I nodded. "Correct. And from what I've seen, there aren't any bugs here. No ants, no spiders, nothing."

"No offense, but it seems more like a blessing than a curse to me." 

"None taken, but if there was some sort of insect here, I could deduce where we are and what time of year it is with my skills." 

"You can do that?" 

"If I know the insect's behavior, which most likely I do." 

"That's cool. You'd definitely be a bug-type gym leader!" 

"Pokémon?" 

"Pokémon."

Our conversation was interrupted by the chime of the monitor turning on. 

"It's not nighttime yet, is it?" I asked. 

Mahiru shook her head. "No, it's around 6:30."

The monitor flickered to show Monokuma in hid usual cross-legged position. "Ahem! School announcement, school announcement." He said. "Nighttime is quickly approaching, but before it arrives... all students, please gather in the gym immediately. Emergency! Emergency!" The monitor shut off. 

Mahiru and I exchanged confused looks. "Should we be worried?" I asked. 

Mahiru rolled her eyes. "It's Monokuma. Of course we should be worried." 

I looked down at any sandwich. "I hope he'll let me take my sandwich down to the gym." 

"Only one way to find out."

/\/\/\/\

Mahiru and I were met with the buzz of conversation the second we opened the doors to the gym. 

"Asking us to gather together all of a sudden like this," Taka pondered, "what could he possibly want?" 

I assumed "he" meant Monokuma. 

"What does that fuck want this time?" Miu groaned. "What shit did we do to deserve this?" 

"It must be another motive..." Shuichi whispered, most likely to himself. 

"What makes you think that, talentless?" Nagito asked. 

"The name calling is unnecessary, Nagito." Mahiru scolded. "Shuichi has a point." 

"How is it name calling?" Nagito furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "It's true." 

"Then why are you going out of your way to pick on him?" Kotoko asked. 

Nagito had the audacity to laugh. "I wouldn't call it 'picking on' him. More like... telling him his place." 

"That's not cool, asshole." Hiyoko said. "At least when I bully people I extend it to everyone." 

"Yeah!" A voice said. "Spread your hate to everyone!" 

We all turned to see Monokuma, standing on top of the stage. 

"He's here." Peko said. 

"Why did you call us here, Monokuma?" Nagito asked.

"You don't beat around the ol' bush, do ya? Ready for me to get to the point, huh? But before that, mind if I vent a little?" Monokuma sighed dramatically. "I'm low on energy these days. My stitching's even losing all its shine and luster... I'm thinking, it's probably be one of this ho-hum, borin g old everyday life. I'm looking for something with a little more stimulation, something rife with danger and intrigue!"

"Get to the point, bastard!" Fuyuhiko yelled. 

"Ugh fine. The next blackened hasn't shown up yet, and I'm getting bored! So," Monokuma twirled around, "I've decided to come up with a new way to motivate you!" 

"M-motivate?!" Makoto asked. "Is it another set of videos or something?" 

I shivered at the thought of seeing my friends at the facility go through even more trouble. I couldn't stand to lose them after I lost so much. 

"Are you gonna show us some demented things to try and drive us all to murder?!" Makoto continued. 

Monokuma gasped and out a paw over his heart. "Drive you to murder?! What an awful thing to say! Just awful!" 

"I don't know what you've got planned, but we're not going to kill each other anymore!" Taka declared with a pump of his fist. "No matter what you do, I swear to god we won't!"

Monokuma put both paws to his mouth, possibly to suppress a laugh. "That's very big talk. Do your very best to back it up, okay? Now then, with your permission, let me begin!"

Monokuma took out numerous envelopes and cradled them with his paw. "This motive is... embarrassing memories and secrets!" 

At first, I thought that it was a dumb motive. This isn't grade school, I'm sure no one would kill someone over that. But then I remembered the video, of my friends in potential danger. The secret Monokuma could be talking about could ruin my life.

"As long as you're alive, it's a given that there's things you don't want other people to know about you!" Monokuma continued. "So I did a little investigating of my own, and I dug up some of your darkest secrets."

I put a hand on Mahiru's shoulder to stabilize myself. She didn't seem to mind, and in fact squeezed my hand with hers. 

If the secret he dug up was that one, I'd be done for. 

Monokuma gestured to the envelopes. "And those embarrassing memories and secrets are all contained in the envelopes I have right here... I'm going to hand them out now, so take a second to take a peek!"

I looked around for anyone looking over my shoulder the second Monokuma handed me my envelope. When I was in the clear, I slowly opened the envelope and pulled a paper out with my trembling hands...

"Mukuro caused the Athens Caddisfly to go extinct." 

My body went rigid. I immediately shoved the paper back in, as if someone was looking over my shoulder. 

"W-what?" Makoto yelled. 

"H-how did..." Kotoko clutched the paper in her envelope, like someone threatened to take it away from her. 

"How'd you find out about this?!" Even Taka lost his composure. 

"You have twenty-four hours! If someone doesn't become blackened by then..." Monokuma paused his monologue to cackle like a supervillain, "... all your deepest, darkest, most embarrassing secrets will be exposed to the world!" 

So that's how the secrets become a motive. I was wondering how they would tie into this killing game. That secret cannot be known to the public! I'd lose all my credibility as a respected entomologist. I'd be shunned!

"Maybe I'll roll by a crowded intersection in a van strapped with loudspeakers and spill the beans!" Monokuma said. "Wouldn't that be so embarrassing?!" 

"So that's what you meant by 'motivate'?" Makoto pulled his dogs close, letting them lick his face. 

Monokuma nodded. "Yup, you got it! They're all pretty unpleasant, trust me. None of you want me to reveal that stuff, right?"

"I-it's definitely someone I'd rather people not know, but... we'd never kill over something like that!" 

Monokuma managed to look taken aback despite having one facial expression. "W-what did you say?!"

"He's right!" Taka pointed an accusatory finger at Monokuma. "Your plan is doomed to fail! No one's gonna murder someone for this type of thing!"

Monokuma sighed and lowered his head. "O-oh no... is it because... for better or worse, your memory is still a way to connect to the outside world? I have stuff I wouldn't want anyone to know no matter what, so I assumed you'd all be the same... which is why I put so much effort into preparing this next motive!" 

Monokuma sunk into the floor, his crocodile tears following him. 

"I personally think we dodged a bullet on this one!" Ibuki triumphantly put her fists on her hips with a giant grin. 

"How about this?" Mahiru crossed her arms. "What if we tell each other our secrets right now?" 

"That won't solve anything." Fuyuhiko said. "Im not saying a thing." 

"Same here." Miu said. "I would rather drink my own piss then talk about it." 

"I also don't want to tell anyone." I said. 

"Same here." Kotoko said. 

"Well," Mahiru sighed. "If that many people are against it, I can't exactly force any of you to do so." 

The monitor chime rang across the gym. Monokuma's nighttime announcement played, the same as all the other ones. 

"We should retire for the night, then." Kotoko said. "I'm sure with some sleep that we'll feel better." 

People started to shuffle out of the gym, but I stood still as the worst scenarios played out in my head. I love what I do. If that secret got out...

"Hey Mukuro!" Ibuki snapped me out of my trance. "You coming?" 

I was about to say yes and follow her to the dorms, but I remembered I had plans with Fuyuhiko. 

"N-no, sorry. I... I want to go to the library really quick. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" I technically didn't lie. 

Ibuki nodded. "Okay! See you later, alligator!" 

I exhaled after Ibuki left my line of sight. "Time to go meet Fuyuhiko." I whispered to myself.

/\/\/\/\

"Do you wanna tell me the secret that Monokuma gave you?" I heard Fuyuhiko ask from the other side of the library. 

I looked up from my book and quirked a curious eyebrow. "Not really, no." 

"Is it that bad?" Fuyuhiko chuckled. "Or is it just plain embarrassing?" 

"It's so bad that it would ruin my reputation as a scientist." I closed my book and crossed my arms to lean against the table. "Is yours just as bad?" 

Fuyuhiko tensely nodded. "Yeah... it would cause me to lose the throne." 

"I won't ask then."

We fell back into silence, though it wasn't as comfortable as before. I could feel Fuyuhiko's eyes on me. He must have been debating on whether or not to ask. 

I decided to bite the bullet. "Unless you want me to ask?" 

Fuyuhiko opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, like a delay. "How about this: we tell each other our secrets, then agree to most tell anyone?" 

I closed the book and leaned forward in my seat. "Fine by me. I'm assuming you want me to go first?" 

Fuyuhiko avoided eye contact. "... yes please..." 

I inhaled and exhaled. "Alright. Here goes... I caused a bug to go extinct." 

Fuyuhiko whipped his head to face me. His eyebrows rose as high as they could. "What?! Really?!"

I nodded. "I'm not proud of it, but I managed to cover up the mistake so no one knew it was me." 

"... are you going to do something about it?"

"No." I said truthfully. "As horrible as it would be for that secret to get out, I don't think I have the energy to entertain the idea of a murder. As much as you have been a help, I'm not out of the woods quite yet." 

"I see..." Fuyuhiko lowered his head that I couldn't see his eyes. "I'm sorry about your sister by the way..." 

I sighed. "It's alright. Now, what about you? What's your secret?"

Fuyuhiko immediately tensed up. He didn't say anything as his breathing got heavier. 

"I won't judge." I tried to assure him. "I'm too depressed to do anything about it." 

Fuyuhiko let out a breathy chuckle. "Don't try to make me feel better." 

"Look, as long as it's not incest or rape, I won't stop taking to you if that's what you're concerned about."

Fuyuhiko looked back up at me with bewilderment. "Don't worry. It's neither of those things." He said through a forced laugh. 

"Thank god. That actually reminds me: I once read a trilogy where an incest subplot was used three times." 

"Three?!" 

"Yeah! It was horrible." I leaned back in my seat. "Wait a minute, I shouldn't change the subject." 

Fuyuhiko tensed up again. 

"So, Fuyuhiko. What's your secret?" 

/\/\/\/\

"Wake up!" A voice yelled, followed by a hard slap.

That was enough to bring me back to consciousness. My upper body jolted up as my eyes shot open. My breathing was heavy and my eyesight was blurry.

My eyesight cleared up soon enough. I found myself on the floor, with Mahiru, Makoto, and Ibuki crowded around me. 

"What?" I managed to get out before I felt a throbbing pain on the back of my head. I hissed and instinctually put a hand on the pain. 

"Easy." Makoto raised his hands, probably an attempt to calm me. "You luckily didn't suffer too much. Whatever injury you sustained managed to heal itself overnight. All you have now is a bruise."

"Overnight?" I asked. "Wait... what happened? Where am I? What time is it?" 

"We found you passed out here, you're in the girls' locker room, and it's around 7:30 in the morning." Ibuki counted off the things she listed on her fingers. 

"7:30?!" 

"Yeah... what's the last thing you remember?" Makoto asked. 

The last things I remember? "It was 10:30 in the night. I was in the library with—" I briefly paused. Fuyuhiko said that he didn't want anyone to know about our time at the library, I might as well honor his wishes— "the stack of books I had wanted to get through." 

"Do you remember anything after that?" Mahiru asked. "Going to the girls' locker room at all?" 

I shook my head. "The last thing I remember was reading a book. I have no idea how I got here." 

Makoto turned to Ibuki. "She also has amnesia, apparently." 

"Also?" I asked. "I guess that makes sense, but Ibuki also has amnesia?" 

Ibuki nodded. "Yep. Only the last thing Ibuki remembers is walking out of the gym right after the Monokuma announcement." 

"So let me get this straight," Mahiru pointed to Ibuki, "you can't remember anything past 10:00, and—" she pointed to me—" you can't remember anything last 10:30?" 

"It looks like it, yeah." I answered. "Wait!" I turned to Makoto. "How are you in the girls' locker room?!" 

"Oh, that." Makoto nervously laughed. "Well, Monokuma said that all doors are unlocked during investigation." 

Ibuki and I must have had the same confused look. "Investigation?" We both asked. 

"Jinx!" Ibuki shouted. 

Makoto and Mahiru exchanged an uneasy glance. "Oh no..." 

"What?" Ibuki asked. "W-what happened?" 

"Yeah, is—" my blood ran cold. "Oh no." 

A murder happened. 

Mahiru extended a hand. "Come on. We'll show you the body. It's in the pool."

I didn't want to follow her and Makoto, but I did anyway. I found Ibuki's hand and squeezed it with my own. 

"I'm here." Ibuki assured me. "Don't worry. We got this." 

The first thing I observed was that the pool was stained red from blood. On the other side of the room, there was a trail of blood, that ended at the crowd of people. Making their own investigations. I assume. 

Ibuki and I pushed past the crowd to find the corpse was wet and bloodied. It's eyes were wide open and it's mouth was agape. It's face was contorted in horror. 

It was the bloodied corpse of Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu.


	6. Boy’s Life of Despair - Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the help of Ibuki, Mukuro works to find clues that would lead her to Fuyuhiko’s killer. Will she be able to find anything?

I instinctively covered my mouth and backed up from the corpse, shaking my head left and right as if it would get rid of the thoughts swirling around in my head.

No. Not this. Not again.

Another dead body. Another investigation. Another class trial. Another person I cared about taken away from me. The heavy weight that had been slowly lifting off my shoulders fell right back down with twice the gravity. 

Ibuki gripped my shoulders. "Hey! It's going to be alright."

I looked up at her, her warm pink eyes a stark contrast against the cold gold eyes of the late Fuyuhiko. "We did this before, remember? We got this!" 

I slowly nodded. "Right... sorry. It's just... I can't believe..." 

"To be fair, Fuyuhiko was as unreliable as they come." Mahiru rolled her eyes. "... how are you feeling?"

I took a brief pause to gauge my emotions. "I feel... heavy, but it wasn't as heavy as when I first saw Junko dead for the first time."

"Yeah, that makes sense. You did just meet Fuyuhiko, after all." Kotoko held a chunk of her hair and squeezed it, causing droplets of water to fall out." 

"Are you..." I took a second to look at Kotoko once over, "... why are you wet?" 

"Hm? Oh, that. Fuyuhiko's corpse was originally at the bottom of the pool," Kotoko pointed to an exact spot in the pool; I didn't follow her gaze, "and I volunteered to retrieve him. I am the most athletic here, after all."

"But don't worry!" Sayaka waved around a photo in her hand. "I managed to capture what the crime scene looked like before Kotoko dove in. Feel free to come look at it when you're in a better place mentally." 

I nodded in acknowledgement to Sayaka. "Yeah... I might need a little bit." 

"That's understandable." Makoto put a hand in hoodie pocket once more. "Would you like Kare once again?"

"I'll... I'll think about it for now." I turned to Ibuki. "Can we talk... privately?" 

Ibuki nodded and took me to the other side of the pool. "What's up, Mukuro? Everything okay?"

"I don't know if I can do this again." I hastily rubbed my arms. "I can't go through another trial again." 

Ibuki sighed. "Neither does Ibuki, but it's okay, because she has you right now. And who do you have?" 

I forced out a chuckle for no other reason other than pity. "I have you..." 

"Exactly!" Ibuki slapped me on my shoulder. "And after we bravely catch the killer, we'll go to the dining hall and eat all the ice cream in the world!" She extended a hand. "What do you say?" 

I smiled, half genuine, half forced, and clasped her hand in mine. "A-Alright, then. Let's do this."

/\/\/\/\

"First off, we need to think about why we have amnesia." Ibuki massaged her temple. "Was it the killer's doing?" 

"Maybe we witnessed the murderer killing Fuyuhiko, and they decided to knock us out?" I wondered out loud. "But how did they manage to give the both of us amnesia from doing that?" 

"Good question. Also, how did we get knocked out?" Ibuki scratched her chin, and she winced. "Ow! My jaw hurts..."

"That must be it then." I put a hand on my jaw, testing out any pain. It was sensitive, but it didn't hurt too badly. "The culprit must have punched us." 

"So to recap, both of us can't remember anything past 10:30, were punched in the jaw, and only you have a cut on your arm... anything else?" 

"Wait. I have a cut on my arm?" I raised both my arms and looked for any sign of an injury. The shirt I was wearing had a tear on its left sleeve; my arm had a long cut where the blood had dried up enough to become a scab. "I...don't remember getting this..."

"That at least gives us some more clues to work with." Ibuki gestured to the other side of the pool. "We should talk with the others so we can catch up on what we missed." 

"Yeah, good idea." I extended my elbow, hoping she would link arms with me. "Shall we?"

/\/\/\/\

"You're back." Mahiru shoved her hands into her flannel pockets. "How are you feeling?" 

"Downright miserable, but I need to put those feelings aside for now." I glanced at Fuyuhiko's dead body with a heavy sigh. "Mind catching us up?"

"I don't mind, would you like to sit down while I tell you?" Mahiru tilted her head to the bleachers as a way to tell me and Ibuki to follow her. 

"So," Ibuki crossed her legs as she sat down, "is there a Monokuma File for this case as well?" 

"Yeah, actually." Mahiru pulled out the familiar black hooded and held it out to us. 

"The victim was Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu." Ibuki read aloud. "The time of death is estimated to be around 11:00 p.m. The body was discovered floating in the pool on the second floor of the school... wait thats it? No cause of death?" 

Mahiru shook her head with a sigh. "Apparently. And the file said that the body was discovered in the pool, not that he was killed there. Unlike the last case where the file said that J—the body was killed in Mukuro's dorm."

I gave the file back to Mahiru. "It must be on purpose. Monokuma wouldn't give us clues that would immediately reveal the culprit." 

"Then we just have to work harder!" Ibuki slapped me on the back. 

"Now can you tell us what happened while we were unconscious?" I asked, trying to ignore the pain on my back. 

"Right," Mahiru shifted in her seat to get more comfortable, "so the body discovery announcement went off at around 7:20 this morning. Nagito, who apparently was the one who found the body, managed to gather everyone to the pool, and that's when Miu and I found you guys. Miu went to go get Makoto, who seemed to have the most medical experience, while I kept watch to make sure nothing happened. Not long after, the two of you woke up." 

I fiddled with my thumbs as I took in all the information. Nagito found the body, and Miu and Mahiru found me and Ibuki in our unconscious state. "What about last night? Anything of importance past 10:30?" 

"Unfortunately, no," Mahiru glanced at the exit, "I was asleep at the time; Hiyoko was still awake, though. You should probably ask her." 

"Okay... do you know where we can find her? Or Nagito?" Ibuki asked. "It might be good to find out what he saw from him." 

"Sorry, I haven't seen him. I believe Hiyoko is collecting alibis, so she might be all over. Anything else you want to know?" Mahiru adjusted her flannel, eager to stand up. 

"Not unless you have anything else to add to your previous statements." I turned towards Ibuki. "Do you?" 

Ibuki hummed in thought before shaking her head. "Nope! Ibuki is good for now." 

"Then I'll get back to the investigation, then." Mahiru stood up and shot us a concerned look. "I hope the amnesia clears up." 

Ibuki and I began to discuss our next move after Mahiru left the conversation. We decided to explore whatever we could at the pool, then go to the girls' locker room for any clues to our amnesia, then the library for the same reason, then look for Hiyoko and Nagito. 

"Hey, Sayaka." I greeted the aforementioned photographer as I walked up to her. "How are you doing?" 

Sayaka appeared to be glancing all around the room; when I asked, she brought her full attention to me and Ibuki. "Hmm? Oh, I'm doing alright. As alright as I could be trying to uncover a murder. And yes, I'm on guard duty." 

I had just opened my mouth to ask if she was on guard duty; when she answered the question, all that came out were stutters of bewilderment. 

"Oh? Did I not tell you?" Sayaka's bubbly exterior darkened. "I'm psychic." 

"Whoa! Really?" Ibuki almost pushed me to the floor as she took my place. "Awesome!" 

Sayaka bursted into fits of giggles. "I'm kidding! I just have amazing intuition." 

"Okay... well can I see the photo of the pool, please?" I tried to not sound annoyed when I asked that. We don't have all the time in the world, after all. 

"Oh, of course!" Sayaka put her hand in her pocket, fishing around for the photo. "Ah! Here it is." 

The photo of the pool looked exactly like it did now, only with one glaring difference: Fuyuhiko was at the bottom of the pool. He seemed to be face down and covered in blood due to it being carried by the water. The blood itself was heavily concentrated around the body; it seemed that the further away the body, the less concentrated and compacted the blood was.

"... huh." Was all I could say. "How did you not like from taking this?" 

"Let me tell you it was pretty close." Sayaka looked down at the corpse with sad eyes. "After looking at the corpse itself and the picture, I believe that he wasn't killed by drowning. There's no way there's be this much blood." 

"Then why throw him in the pool?" I asked. "To get rid of evidence?" 

"I think so!" Ibuki chimed in. She seemed to be crouching by the body. "Look at this," 

When Ibuki saw that she had my attention (she also had Sayaka's but it didn't look like she cared), she stood up from her crouching position, lifted her leg high, and forcefully brought it down on Fuyuhiko's chest. 

Water shot out of Fuyuhiko's mouth, causing me to gag and Sayaka to turn away in horror. "Don't do that again, please..."

"I knew it!" Ibuki pumped her fist in the air. "His corpse did seem rather heavy and squishy... like a water bed!" 

"Don't compare a corpse to a water bed, please." Kotoko called down from the bleachers. "That was disgusting! Much like this one kid I knew back in grade school. He would steal the neighborhood pets and tear up their insides..."

I tuned out after that; Ibuki seemed heavily entranced by the story Kotoko was telling, so I turned to Sayaka. "You are so brave for putting up with this." 

Sayaka chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I myself am proud that I haven't puke yet. So like I was saying, I also don't think Fuyuhiko was drowned because of that." 

I followed her pointed finger to a trail of blood. It seemed to come from the girls' locker room. How did I not notice that?

"You were probably too busy taking in that another murder happened to catch them." Sayaka said. 

I turned to her with bewilderment. "How... I didn't see—"

"Like I said, I'm psychic." The darkened expression returned before she began to giggle again. "Again, I'm kidding! Like I also said, I have amazing intuition." 

I absentmindedly nodded and turned back to the trail of blood. "It would make sense for the blackened to drag the body to the pool..."

"That's not all." Sayaka handed me another photo. "Look at this." 

It was a photo of the trail, only something beside the sloppy trail was the focus. 

"Are these... footprints?" 

I looked back at the trail again. It was hard to find at first, but when I found them, I couldn't unsee it. 

"They seem to be high heels." Sayaka pointed out as she looked at the photo over my shoulder. "That's all I really gained from it, though." 

"Good to know," there was only one alive person who was wearing heels like that in this school; I wonder if it is really them, "was there anything in Fuyuhiko's person we should know about?" 

"Yes, actually." Sayaka walked back towards the body a gestured for me to follow with a quick tilt of her head. 

I was about to follow when something about the corpse caught my glance. 

The corpse of Fuyuhiko was now the corpse of another person, someone I knew dearly. Her strawberry blonde hair covered in blood and water. Her eyes were stabbed with needles. Blood was gushing from her neck. 

I let out a strained yelped and immediately backed up as far away as my legs could take me whilst walking backwards. I couldn't look away from her, no matter how hard I tried. The only thing that seemed to work was covering my eyes with my hands. Sure, it caused me to trip and fall on my butt, but it was better than staring into the eyes of your dead sister. 

"Mukuro?" 

I felt a squeeze on my leg, alerting me even more. I shrunk even more, tucking my legs close to my chest. 

"Mukuro, look at me." 

Against my better judgement, I uncovered my eyes. Ibuki was crouching in front of me, her eyebrows knitted with concern. She gently grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"Are you okay?" 

I shook my head. "N-no... I saw... I-I saw—"

"You saw Junko, didn't you?" Ibuki sighed. "Don't worry, that's just a hallucination the writer of this series put in to torture you. Now can you stand up?" 

I wordlessly grabbed Ibuki's hand, hoping it would show that I wanted her to help me up. Ibuki took the hint and yanked me up. 

I dared to glance at the corpse again, wondering if Ibuki was right. The corpse was now Fuyuhiko's, and I instantly let out a sigh of relief. "S-sorry..." 

"It's alright." Ibuki dusted my shoulders off. "It looks like Sayaka wants to speak to you." 

I glanced at Sayaka, who seemed to be very invested in her camera whilst glancing in my direction every other second. "Hey... a-are you okay?" 

"I'm," I scratched my head, wondering if I really was okay, "I don't know, but... I'm not freaking out externally anymore." 

"Okay, then..." Sayaka stared down at the corpse. "Would you like to come over here still or would you prefer for me to come to you?" 

I responded almost immediately. "The latter, please. I really don't want to risk hallucinating... her again." 

"Got it," Sayaka bent down to pick up something that seemed to be in one of Fuyuhiko's pockets and hurried over. "Look at this." 

"An E-handbook?" I scrunched up my nose. "What does that have to do with anything?" 

"Turn it on, first," Sayaka gnawed in her lip, "then you can judge me. And no, the water didn't break it. According to Monokuma, they are very durable." 

I took in her advice and tried to find the button with my finger. When I successfully pressed down on it, the screen lit up and two words displayed on the screen: Tsumugi Shirogane

"What?" I looked back up at Sayaka. "What is her—"I nearly spat her name out—"handbook doing on Fuyuhiko's person?" 

"You're guess is as good as mine." Sayaka gestured for the handbook to be returned, and I did so. "But according to Taka, the handbooks of the dead students are kept in the main hall."

Taking in the information, I turned to Ibuki. "I think we're good to move on to the girls' locker room."

Ibuki gave two thumbs up. "Sure thing!" 

"Oh! Before you do that," Sayaka pulled out another photo, "this is a picture I took of the locker room while you two were unconscious. Sorry if that made you uncomfortable, but I felt like it would have helped with the investigation; after this is done, you can tear it into pieces."

/\/\/\/\

"Hey guys," Mahiru greeted us as we entered the locker room, "how's it going?"

"We discovered a lot of clues in the pool, if that's what you're asking." I held the photo Sayaka gave me and tried to decipher where she would have taken it. It would be easier to get a clearer picture of the differences between right now and when the photo was taken if I had the same angle for both. 

"Oh, is that the picture that Sayaka took while you two were unconscious?" Mahiru clasped her hands together behind her back. "I hope you don't mind. I know it's creepy, but we are in a murder investigation so it's kind of necessary." 

"It's fine!" Ibuki swatted her hand in a dismissing motion. "Wait, how did you know about the picture?" 

"Sayaka entered the room while I was waiting for Miu to get Makoto." Mahiru explained. "She requested for me to get out of the way so she would get a clear look at the crime scene; I obliged." 

I glanced at the photo." Then do you know where she took the photo? It would be easier to compare if we stood where she stood." 

Mahiru pointed to the corner right beside the door. "Over there; I'm sure it's obvious, but your bodies weren't moved in any way in the time that I was keeping watch before she took the shot. The most I did was lift your heads to check for a pulse." 

"Good to know!" Ibuki gave her two thumbs up as I looked at the photo. 

My body was in between the lockers and a small blue bench. Ibuki's body was in front of a similar small bench that was placed on the other side of the room, with her upper half on the carpet. We seemed to have been out like a light. Other than our unconscious bodies, the room in the photo looked the exact same as it did currently.

"Looks like we were pretty far apart." Ibuki commented as she rested her head on my shoulder. "I wonder why that is..." 

I turned to her as much as I could without disturbing her current position. "Maybe we were both knocked out at different times... like after the culprit knocked one out, they didn't immediately go after the other." 

"That's an interesting theory," Ibuki lifted her head (much to my disappointment) as if something caught her attention, "and look." 

Following her gaze, the familiar trail of blood caught my eye. It looked like the same trail from the pool; they must have been connected. It ended (or started?) in the center of the carpet. The perspective from the photo made it look like the trail started from Ibuki's head. 

"So that's where the blood trail started." I muttered to myself. "Hey Ibuki, you said you didn't have any other injuries, correct?" 

"Correct! Ibuki didn't have any injuries. And if she did, she would have seen it earlier if it had caused this much blood." Ibuki lifted her head to look at the wall. "Or that much blood."

The wall in front of us had spatters all over the place, like someone had exploded. I had seen the spatter in my peripheral vision, but now that it had my attention, I realized how gruesome it truly was. 

"Wow..." I shook my head as I tried to get back on track for the investigation, "and I don't think my little cut would cause that much either." 

"Yeah, it even hit on this dumbbell over here!" Ibuki grunted as she picked up the aforementioned heavy weight, which did in fact have blood all over it. 

Our conversation was interrupted by the creaking of a door. We turned to see Shuichi Saihara come through. He froze up when he entered. I had the sneaking suspicion that it was because of me, for we didn't exactly have the best conversation the last time we talked. 

"Hey, Shuichi!" Ibuki waved at him as she put the dumbbell back down. "What's up?" 

"O-oh uh, you know..." Shuichi nervously laughed the same way I usually would laugh if I was in a tense social situation, "just i-investigating and a-all that!" 

Mahiru lifted an eyebrow. "Have you discovered anything, Shuichi? Please don't tell me you're like all the other unreliable men here."

"W-well, I—" Shuichi was interrupted by him stepping on the bar of the dumbbell Ibuki put down, which must have rolled over to him. He fell down with a yelp and hit his head on the wall on the way down. When he hits the floor, he yelled out even louder in pain.

Mahiru hurried over to help him up. "Are you okay?!" 

"I think so?" Shuichi grimaced as he took Mahiru's hand to lift him up. "Do I look okay?"

"Unless you came in here with a serious cut on your hip, then yeah you're fine." Ibuki said nonchalantly. 

Shuichi did, in fact, have a serious cut, and it was bleeding all over the place. 

"Oh god..." Mahiru watched in horror as more blood seeped out from under Shuichi's skin. "I'll go get Makoto, you stay here." 

We watched as Mahiru marched out of the room. 

Internally debating if this was the right choice, I sighed and extended a hand. "You should sit down, Shuichi." 

Shuichi looked up at me, making eye contact again for the first time on what felt like forever. His eyes were widened with disbelief. "Oh, y-yeah." He lowered his cap and took my hand for me to lead him to the bench. 

"Do you need anything else?" I crossed my arms as I stood in front of him. "Water, help on clue, anything?" 

"Well, I'm really curious to see what my luck caused." Shuichi answered. "Seeing that I literally got stabbed, something positive should happen soon if it didn't happen yet."

"Will it be on the same scale?" I asked. "I mean... the lucky person won't have something like... finding an extra chip at the bottom of the bag?" 

Shuichi shook his head. "No, they'll have equally good luck." 

"Well I hate to interrupt your forgiving conversation," Ibuki piped up from the other side of the room, "but I found the knife that stabbed you, Shuichi." 

"Oh, right." I turned away from Shuichi. "The investigation..."

I was less looking for clues and more looking anywhere that wasn't Shuichi. Yes, I got a conversation in with him, but I'm still conflicted on what I should do. I'll work on my thoughts towards him when we're finished finding the murderer.

Then my eyes caught something. "Ibuki, can you come here?"

Seconds later, I saw Ibuki enter my peripheral vision. "What's up?" 

"Were... were those lockers always open?" I pointed to the lockers; its doors were wide open, slowly swaying from side to side. 

"I dunno." Ibuki said with a shrug. "Check the picture." 

I did so; my suspicions were correct. In the photo, the lockers were as tightly sealed as the others. Now, they were wide open.

"I wonder if they were open before we entered the room. We should ask Mahiru when she returns." I asserted. 

"Should we go and investigate other places in the mean time?" Ibuki asked. 

"No, I doubt she would take that long." I glanced at Shuichi. "Besides, we shouldn't leave Shuichi alone when he's injured."

It took a couple agonizingly long minutes, but Mahiru eventually reentered with Makoto and his dogs in tow. We let Mahiru watch Makoto patch up Shuichi's hip for a couple seconds until Ibuki and I decided to talk to her. 

"Hey, Mahiru?" I started. "Can we ask you something?" 

"Of course." Mahiru turned towards the two of us, but not without casting a warning glance at Makoto. "What do you need?" 

"While you were investigating," I gestured towards the two open lockers, "you didn't happen to open those lockers did you, and if so, did you find anything in them?" 

Mahiru stared in disbelief as she kneeled down in front of the lockers. "How... how did you open these?!" 

"I'll take that as a 'no.'" I whispered to Ibuki. "We didn't. After we made sure Shuichi was sitting, I saw those, even though I didn't even touch them." 

"That's weird..." Mahiru stood back up and dusted her flannel, which I discovered she liked to do to keep her hands busy, "I was able to open all the other lockers, but those two wouldn't even budge."

"What did you say?" I heard Shuichi ask. "The two lockers you couldn't open are open now?" 

"Looks like it." Mahiru turned back to me. "And no, I didn't find anything in those lockers." 

"So that's what my luck must have done..." Shuichi said, "if that's the case, then those two lockers must be very important." 

"What do you mean, Shuichi?" Ibuki asked. "Maybe it was just a coincidence?" 

Shuichi shook his head. "I've lived with my luck long enough to know if something was caused by my luck or not. Those open lockers are only open because of my bout of bad luck earlier." 

"But I thought you said whoever will experience this good luck will be... on the same scale as accidentally getting stabbed." I argued. "How does having two lockers open up compare to that?" 

"The only explanation I can think of is that those lockers are very beneficial to the case." Shuichi tried to adjust a little as possible; Makoto was tending to his cut, after all. "Trust me." 

"Even though there's nothing in the lockers?" Mahiru asked. "Are you sure?" 

Shuichi nodded, the usual doubt and nervousness that resides on his face had disappeared. His eyes burned with determination. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Hey Ibuki," I gnawed on my lip, "we should head to the library. Unless you feel the need to look over this place again." 

"No, you're right." Ibuki linked her arm in mine. "To the library!"

/\/\/\/\

"Well if it isn't the ugliest skanks in the building!" Wasn't what I expected to be greeted with, but I at least knew who would say such a thing. 

"Nice to see you too, Hiyoko." I rolled my eyes. 

"So this is the last place you remember being?" Ibuki asked. "What happened again?"

"I was reading in here with Fuyuhiko." I explained. "We were asking each other about our secrets. I asked him what his secret, and that's the last I remember."

"Wait..." Ibuki scratched her head, "I thought you said that you were here alone back when we first woke up."

"O-oh, I did?" I nervously laughed. "I lied, I guess?" 

"Why the hell would you lie about that?" I heard Hiyoko shout, the sound of footsteps coming closer. "Are you seriously that dumb?"

I closed my eyes and heavily sighed; I really didn't want to put up with Hiyoko today. "In my defense, when I woke up from my unconscious state, I was under the assumption Fuyuhiko was still alive. Fuyuhiko requested that no one knew about the two of us meeting up. Now that Fuyuhiko is dead, I don't have to worry about keeping it anymore." 

"You're so loyal, Mukuro!" Ibuki said as she hugged me from the side. "I forgive you." 

I playfully rolled my eyes. "Thanks, Ibuki." I would have laughed if I the familiar book of spiders didn't catch my eye. I slowly made my way to the table the book was sitting on, taking in the sight. 

The book was open, most of the pages were torn out, and a giant hole stabbed through what remained of each page. 

My shoulders dropped. "Darn it... I really liked that book."

"Better that than one of the books on Japanese culture." Hiyoko scoffed. 

"Oh yeah! That reminds me!" Ibuki shouted, despite being in a library. "Mahiru said that you were collecting alibis, correct?"

"Yep," Hiyoko popped the p as she sat down, "and you two possibly don't have an alibi, right?"

"No idea." I answered. "You do know that we have amnesia, right?" 

Hiyoko nodded. "Makoto said the same thing, good to know that he's at least honest, but it's a shame that that's his only positive trait." 

"You wouldn't mind telling us, would you?" Ibuki asked. "Maybe it would help jog our memories or something." 

Hiyoko leaned back on her seat as she let out a childish groan. "You're lucky I'm such a nice person. Fine, I'll tell you, but I won't repeat myself, got it?"

I didn't have time to answer; Hiyoko kept on going and I prayed that Ibuki wrote this all down. "So conveniently, during nighttime, I was laying against the wall as I read a book and people watched, a thing I like to do. In that time, I saw—" Hiyoko pointed to Ibuki— "that trashy skank leave the 'hotel' as Monokuma call it at around 10:15 and I didn't see her come back. Makoto left at 10:20 and Sayaka left shortly after, but both came back together at 11:00. Miu left at 11:00 and came back at 11:20, and Peko left at 10:15 and came back at 11:15." 

"Is that all?" I asked, hoping to keep my tone level as to not set her off. 

"Let me think... oh yeah! I nearly forgot." Hiyoko leaned towards me, as if she was about to gossip on a random peer. "I saw Fuyuhiko walk into the hotel at 10:40 looking really pissed. He later left at 10:55. I returned to my room at 11:30, so that's the most I can give you."

"And do you think any of the people you listed are suspects?" Ibuki asked. 

"Of course! What kind of a question is that?" Hiyoko looked disgusted at us. "But if I had to guess what everyone was doing, Makoto left to go train his mutts or whatever and Sayaka wanted to stalk him, Peko went into a random classroom to practice her dumb guitar, Miu went to go finger herself in the nearest bathroom, and Ibuki went to go find you." 

"Go find me?" I repeated, looking back at Ibuki. Her face seemed redder than usual and was avoiding my gaze. 

Hiyoko pretended to gag. If you're going to have a love confession or something, go to another room! This is a library, you know."

I turned to Ibuki. "I do think we found everything, so we should go." 

"Sure thing, but before we do," Ibuki got up really close to Hiyoko's face, "you wouldn't happen to know where Nagito is, would you?"

"That weirdo?" Hiyoko kicked Ibuki away, not caring that the latter fell down. "Last I check, he was in the boys' locker room checking for clues there."

/\/\/\/\

"Oh, hello girls." Nagito said as we opened the door to the locker room. "Nice to see you up and moving." 

"Hey, Nagito." I waved at him out of politeness. "Can we ask you some questions?" 

"Of course!" Nagito grinned widely, the smile almost reaching his ears. "What would you like to know?" 

"Well firstly, did you find any clues in here?" Ibuki sat down on one of the benches, and I shortly followed. Might as well get comfortable. 

Nagito's grin slowly curved downward into a frown. "Sadly, no. I thought that since the crime scene is in the pool, that Fuyuhiko would have left something in here, like some clues. Unfortunately, it's as if he never even stepped foot in this room." 

"Well, that's a clue in that of itself, if you think about it." Ibuki assured him. "We can confirm that Fuyuhiko entered the pool in another way!"

"Speaking of Fuyuhiko, can we ask something else?" I didn't wait for an answer as I continued. "We've been told that you were the one who found the body this morning." 

Nagito nodded. "You are correct. But seeing that I triggered the body discovery announcement, that means that two other people saw the body before me."

"What if those two were us?" Ibuki asked. "The culprit knocked us out because we witnessed the murder!"

"That's a possibility," Nagito sat down on the bench across from us, "but we shouldn't confirm it until we have solid evidence."

I would've chimed in if the four notes that came from the monitor didn't interrupt me. The three of us turned towards said monitor, waiting for Monokuma to show up. 

When he did, Monokuma sat in his regular position. "So... I'm getting tired of waiting. Shall we just plunge right in? It's the moment you've all been waiting for... the class trial! You remember where to meet, right? Please go through the red door on the first floor of the school! See you soon!"

The monitor turned off, leaving us in the echoes of Monokuma's manic laugh. 

"Well then," Nagito lifted himself up from the bench, "shall we?"

/\/\/\/\

It didn't take long for everyone to shuffle in, and not long after, Monokuma rose up from the floor. 

"Alllrighty!" Monokuma put his paws on his hips. "Is that everyone? Okay then, hustle into the elevator and let's get this show on the road! I'll see you guys down there!" 

"What an unpleasant robot!" Taka crossed his arms. "This surely goes against the first rule of robotics!"

"Really?" Sayaka tilted her head. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that rule means that they can't kill, right? Then did he even kill anyone?"

"There's actually another part of that rule," Taka said as he as Sayaka entered the elevator, "a robot cannot through inaction cause a human to go through any harm! If you take that part into account, then yes!"

"Wow, I didn't know that!"

Everyone fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. The rumbling of electricity and friction was the only things that kept us from being left alone with our thoughts.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu might not have been the most kind person in the world, but I still wish I got to know him more. He helped me to cope with my grief and trauma in a way that was more healthy. He risked the chance of being murdered by me to help me. 

The elevator came to a halt, almost causing me to fall. Following my fellow students' lead, I stepped out of the elevator and into the all too familiar trial room. 

Monokuma was true to his word. He was waiting for us on top of that throne of his. "What do you think? I redecorated! Isn't it so fresh? Isn't it so exciting?!" 

"Shut up, you disappointment of an abortion!" Miu shouted. "Let's get this shit over with!"

"Wow, you all are ready to go!" Monokuma almost looked surprised. "Alright everyone! Please find your assigned seats!"

Taking a deep breath, I found my podium, it was relatively easy, seeing that I had a portrait of Junko to guide me. 

Taking a look around, Fuyuhiko and Tsumugi’s podiums now had pictures. I almost felt bad for Kotoko; she no longer had a living person beside her and was stuck in between two portraits of people that are dead. 

But I can’t focus on that now. 

Now, I need to get past this class trial, preferably alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> So far, the investigation chapters are my favorite to write. Finding that balance so I don’t give too much away is always fun!
> 
> There’s one more week until the blackened is revealed in the next chapter. Who do you think it is?


	7. Boy’s Life of Despair - Class Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second class trial. Will Mukuro be able to uncover the blackened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so I would like to announce that because I apparently procrastinate the shit out of everything and have a life outside of this fic, I would like to announce that I’m changing up my schedule.
> 
> I will now post a new chapter every other Sunday. 
> 
> But don’t worry! I’m starting another work that doesn’t take as much time and energy. It will be updated on the Sundays that I don’t update this. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the conclusion of the second chapter!

"Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma began. "So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out 'whodunnit,' then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate! Okay then, so first off, let's talk about the murder weapon!"

Wasn't that the exact same thing he said last time? Oh well, it's not like it matters.

"Sayaka, Kotoko," Peko crossed her arms as she constantly looked between the two, "you two were on guard duty. Did you find any fatal injuries?"

Sayaka started of with a hefty sigh, the type of sigh one would give when they're about to tell disappointing news. "Kotoko and I unfortunately couldn't find many external wounds on the body."

"The bleeding had stopped and any blood we could have used to trace back any injury was all washed away and replaced with water since he was in the pool overnight." Kotoko further explained. "So all we have to go off of is the Monokuma File."

"Well Fuyuhiko was found in the pool," Taka pointed an accusatory finger; not at anyone in particular, but in a way that would emphasize the point he was trying to prove, "so he must have died by drowning!"

Mahiru palmed her cheek and frowned. "So he was killed in the pool?"

"So Fuyuhiko would have to go up to the 2nd floor, go into the boys' locker room, and enter the pool." Hiyoko tilted her head to the side and put a finger to the edge of her mouth. According to Junko, those two gestures are common when conveying confusion or clarification. "Does that line up with any evidence?"

Does it? I thought about anything we found in the boys' locker room when Ibuki and I searched... and came up with nothing. Nagito even emphasized how little evidence there was... wait!

"Actually," I tried to ignore all the eyes on me as I began to explain, "I don't think Fuyuhiko even entered the boys' locker room."

Miu scoffed. "And why do you think that, Pookuro?" 

"Well, Miu—" I practically spat out her name— "when Nagito, Ibuki and I investigated the boys locker room, we came up with absolutely nothing!"

Expressions ranging from confused to pity to second-hand embarrassment were plastered on everyone's faces. If I had a seat to shrink back in, I would have. What I just said didn't make much sense. 

Thankfully, Ibuki came to my rescue. "What she mean to say is that there wasn't any proof that Fuyuhiko went into the boys' locker room, so he might have entered the pool using another way."

"You'd think that he would have left a swimsuit or bag full of belongings or workout clothes," Nagito waved around his black marker as he spoke, "but there was nothing."

"That does seem a little odd." Shuichi muttered before looking up at us. "So he must have used the girls' locker room, then?"

Despite agreeing with him, Nagito laughed at his suggestion. "Really? Do you think that's the answer?"

Shuichi seemed taken aback; he lowered his cap as an excuse to not make eye contact. "N-no... I was just throwing out suggestions... sorry."

"Well we got one option," Kotoko crossed her arms as she leaned against her podium, "but are there any other ways?"

"I seriously doubt it." Makoto said as he cradled Kuroba with both his hands. "After checking the map on the handbook, and looking at the building itself, there's no way to enter the pool without first entering either locker room."

"But he couldn't have snuck in the girls' locker room, or else he would have been shot with the gun, so he couldn't have entered the pool via the girls' locker room." Sayaka said, looking conflicted. "Are we really stumped this early?"

Are we? Maybe he really did enter the boys' locker room and I overlooked something? Or did he discover a secret passage to the pool? Maybe he used something to enter the girls' locker room unscathed... that would explain what we found on his corpse.

"Maybe he used a girl's handbook to enter." I threw out before I realized what I was insinuating. "I-I mean, we did find Tsumugi's E-handbook on Fuyuhiko, after all."

"But isn't that against the rules?" Shuichi argued. "The rules say that you can't borrow another student's handbook."

"Not to mention we don't even know if Tsumugi was a girl in the first place." Miu rolled her eyes. "Maybe Tsumugi was secretly a cross dresser or some shit." 

Peko showed more emotion in her baffled expression than any other expression I've seen her wear in the short time I've known her. "Why... why would a Yakuza heir dress up as the opposite gender?"

Miu shrugged. "Beats me! But I'm not one to kinkshame. The point is, how can we confirm that Tsumugi's handbook was actually used and not planted?"

"Well the boys' locker room wasn't used," Kotoko flashed a bright smile in my direction, "like Mukuro said! So we can rule that out."

Sayaka put a finger on her chin, much like how Hiyoko did earlier. "So there must be some sort of loophole that Fuyuhiko used to his advantage. But what could it be?"

A loophole? Well the rule itself stated that "you cannot loan your handbook to another student." Does Tsumugi being dead factor into this loophole. It most likely does based off on the behavior that Monokuma has shown us. But how?

"Maybe," I ran a hand through my hair as a way to distract myself form the attention, "you can use a dead student's handbook."

"Oh, so the rule only applies to students who are live!" Nagito smiled in my direction, but it was too creepy and big for me to truly accept it. "You're so smart, Mukuro."

The clear bias he had between me and Shuichi made me cringe. What did he have against Shuichi? Did he harm Nagito in some way?

"Correct!" Monokuma said up from his throne. "I do not count corpses as students! So if you were to use a dead student's handbook to enter a place, then it is not a violation of the rules!"

"Well now that we got that over with, we should talk about when Fuyuhiko was last seen alive." Hiyoko looked over to me, but I couldn't tell if it was accusatory or not. "You were the last to see him, right Mukuro?"

Everyone's gaze shifted to me; for the first time, I didn't feel uneasy because of it. "I believe so. Fuyuhiko and I were sitting in the library. We were silently reading for most of the time until we began to have a conversation about our motives. That's all I can really remember."

"Wait!" Makoto shook his head. "Didn't you tell me and Mahiru when you woke up that you were by yourself?"

Oh yeah, I did lie about that. Oops. 

"That's right! You did say that!" Mahiru narrowed her eyes in my direction and crossed her arms. "So what's the truth?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ibuki once again saved me from both being a suspect and my crippling anxiety, and did so with a giant grin on her face. "Apparently, Mukuro lied to protect Fuyuhiko, since she believed that he was still alive at the time." 

"Is this true, Mukuro?" Taka asked.

I slowly nodded, stalling for time to regain my composure. "Y-yes. Fuyuhiko requested that I didn't tell anyone that we were meeting up, and I wanted to honor that. But now that he's dead, I don't see the need to lie about such a thing anymore, especially since my meeting with him could help us catch the culprit."

"Uh huh," Hiyoko didn't seem convinced, and I couldn't exactly blame her, "and how can you convince us that this is the truth and you're not trying to mislead us?"

"I... I think so—"

"Because I saw them together!"

I turned to the person who interrupted me. "I-Ibuki?"

Ibuki's hands clutched her podium as she stared into Hiyoko's eyes with fiery determination. "The last thing Ibuki saw before she lost her memory was peaking into the library. She saw Mukuro and Fuyuhiko in the library talking." 

"You..." I should have been grateful for Ibuki helping to prove that I was telling the truth, but... I wasn't, "you were spying on me?! Why?!"

"W-well, I didn't—"

"You didn't what?" All the annoyance I felt towards Ibuki dragging me along was pouring out, and I didn't care to stop myself. "Think that I wasn't capable without you dragging me around the goddamn building?!"

"N-no, I—"

"You what?! I am more than—" My angers speech came to a halt when I felt scratching on my leg. I looked down to see none other than Kare. Her tail was wagging and she barked up at me when she realized she had my attention. 

I looked at Makoto, seeing if there was anything I could glean from his expression. Did he deliberately send Kare over? Did Kare do this without Makoto's orders?

His face showed signs of the former being true. "You need to calm down, Mukuro." 

I sighed, as I picked up Kare to hold in my arms. Makoto was right. We need to find Fuyuhiko's killer, and I couldn't do that if I was blinded by the emotions I've been bottling up for a couple days. 

"We'll talk later, Ibuki." I muttered, refusing to look in her direction. I could hear her shift her body, but that was the most I deciphered. 

"You have amnesia too, right?" Mahiru asked. "If so, what do you last remember?" 

"Exactly that," Ibuki answered, much quieter than usual, "I overheard Mukuro and Fuyuhiko talking, and... when I saw Fuyuhiko walk to the library, I... I saw him discreetly carrying a knife."

"Y-you did?!" I looked up from Kare to meet Ibuki's gaze. "Is that..."

Ibuki nodded. "I didn't even know that he was meeting up with you, but I saw that he had a potential weapon and couldn't not follow him."

"And did you see him use this knife?" Peko asked. 

"Not that I remember." Ibuki scratched her head. "But it's possible he used it in the time that I don't remember."

"But why would Fuyuhiko bring a knife to the library?" Shuichi asked. 

There was only one reason that I could think of. It wasn't the happiest possibility, but it was a possibility nonetheless. "To kill me."

"But... are you even worth killing?" Miu asked. I was really starting to get tired of her bullshit. "I'm surprised someone thought about you that much, even just to kill you?"

"Can you think of any other reason, Miu?" I asked; Miu seemed surprised that I made eye contact with her. "Because if so, please elaborate." 

While Miu was stammering and blushing at all the attention at her embarrassment, I snuck in a high five with Ibuki. Serves her right for constantly taking advantage of my grief to make herself look better.

"W-well..." Miu slowly but surely stood straighter and furrowed her eyebrows, "how can we trust Ibukidiot and Pookuro's claim? They could be lying to save each other's asses!"

"That is true!" Taka gnawed on his lip as he thought. "The only evidence we have are testimonies from potential suspects! That's very shaky!"

"Actually," I began, remembering the state of the book I was reading last night, "there is."

"R-really?" Shuichi stuttered, though it was most likely because he wasn't used to speaking up instead of disbelief. "Wh-what is it?"

"Ibuki and I decided to check the library," I explained, "since it was the last place we remember being in. We saw one of the books I was reading all torn up and ruined."

"It looked like the book got stabbed!" Ibuki made a stabbing motion with her hands. "I believe that Mukuro had her head over the book, and managed to dodge when he swung down to kill her!"

"That does seem like solid evidence." Kotoko leaned on her arm, which was resting in the podium. "But while we're on the topic of the library, was there any other evidence you all found?"

"None that I saw!" Ibuki answered. "What about you, Mukuro?"

"Other than that being the last place I remember seeing Fuyuhiko alive, then no." I turned to Hiyoko. "Did you find anything while you were in there, Hiyoko?"

"No, I was mostly there to get some space from all you losers, not to investigate." Hiyoko glared at me. "Not that it did any good."

"Then if that's settled," Nagito's indifferent expression fell on me, "you don't mind answering some questions about what happened in the library, do you, Mukuro?"

I let myself chuckle at his question. "Even if I didn't want to, it's not like I had much of a choice."

"Then can I ask something?" Sayaka asked, but didn't wait for an answer, not that I minded too much. "Was there anyone else that you were supposed to meet up with other than Fuyuhiko?"

That was easy for me to answer. He did want to keep our meeting under wraps, after all. "No. It was just supposed to be me and Fuyuhiko."

"But didn't he claim that he wasn't there to make friends a couple days before?" Mahiru asked. "Why did you two agree to meet up? Did that fact slip your mind or something?"

Thinking back to the night where Fuyuhiko burst into my room and demanded that I eat, I answered: "Because he had been teaching me ways to cope with my grief in a healthy way. He came to me a couple nights ago forcing me to eat, and yesterday he asked if we could meet up if I needed a break from... all the people. No offense to you guys."

"And did you genuinely think that a short bitch like him wouldn't kill you?" Hiyoko scoffed, despite her being around the same height as him. "Why the hell did you think that was a good idea? Especially after the motive Monokuma showed us?"

That question was harder to answer, but after thinking to myself and factoring in the motive, I eventually came to an answer. "Because Fuyuhiko asked me to meet up with him before Monokuma announced the motive. I didn't think someone like him would do such last-minute planning. And even if he did... I guess I was too tired to care."

I felt a hand on my shoulder, which had to have come from Ibuki, since she was the only one next to me. "Mukuro..."

I shrugged off her shoulder; I didn't have time to swim in my own self deprecating thoughts. "Are there any other questions?"

"I have one." Makoto piped up. "What was the last thing you remember?"

Searching my memory, I came up with an answer. "I had asked Fuyuhiko the secret that was used for his motive."

"Really?" Nagito grinned in a way that people would when they are about to learn some juicy gossip. "And what did he say?"

"I don't know." I answered honestly. "The literal last thing I remember is asking the question. I asked 'hey what's your motive' and then there's a gap."

"So the two of you don't remember anything about the locker room, at all?" Taka asked. 

"Nope." Ibuki answered with a shrug.

"So you two ended up unconscious in the locker room, and it was basically confirmed that Fuyuhiko wound up in the locker room on purpose." Kotoko said. "Was there any reason for you guys to end up in the bathroom?"

"There wasn't, actually..." Ibuki said, though the waver in her voice betrayed any certainty she tried to show, "well, none that we remember at the moment."

"Well there should be a reason for Fuyuhiko to enter the girls' locker room instead of the boys'." Mahiru fiddled with the ends of her flannel. "But what reason would he have?"

What reason would Fuyuhiko have? Was it because Ibuki and I somehow ended up in the locker room? That's most likely it. "What if... the reason Fuyuhiko had wanted to enter the girls' locker room was because we were in there?"

"Really?" Sayaka tilted her head to the side. "Well... I guess that would make sense. You did would most likely find a place to hide where Fuyuhiko couldn't enter."

"And if Fuyuhiko really did attack me and I escaped, there's no way I wouldn't spill the beans about such an event." I said, further emphasizing Sayaka point. "And I'm the kind of person that's easy to read, so it would have been obvious."

"So he tried to kill you as an attempt to silence you?" Miu said before muttering something about how he should have succeeded.

"He must have used Tsumugi's handbook to enter the locker room to kill me and Mukuro!" Ibuki shouted. "And he tried to use the knife to end us."

"That would explain how the knife got into the locker room." Peko stated. 

"Wait, wait, wait," Hiyoko waved her hands around to grab out r attention, "before we go into this rabbit hole, how can we be sure that the knife wasn't planted evidence by the culprit to throw us off?"

"Like a red herring?" Taka asked. 

"Exactly!" Kotoko nodded in agreement. "The killer did have around eight hours to spruce up the crime scene to their liking, so it's not impossible."

"But if Fuyuhiko used the knife," Shuichi began, drumming his fingers in the podium, "then what would the killer gain from disposing of it? There's no evidence that the knife was even used." 

"True," Mahiru agreed, "the Monokuma File stated that the only injury he had was a blow to the head."

"That reminds me!" Shuichi looked up from the ground with wide eyes. "Do we believe that the blow was the fatal injury?"

"It isn't decided yet," Makoto answered, "but it would be helpful to find out what caused such an injury."

"What about the dumbbell in the locker room?" I suggested.

"A dumbbell?" Nagito pondered what I said before continuing. "Well that would definitely hurt, but how can you be sure that's what caused such an injury?"

"Because the dumbbell itself was covered in blood." I answered simply. 

"Oh," Nagito nodded, "then yeah that would work as a potential murder weapon. 

"So it's between the dumbbell and the pool for the weapon. Anything else we should narrow down?" Peko asked. 

"How about everyone's alibi?" Hiyoko suggested "Fuyuhiko was killed around 11:00, so we should narrow down any potential suspects."

Wait, but doesn't Hiyoko know everyone else's alibi? Why couldn't she just tell everyone what she gathered? I shrugged off the thought, Hiyoko most likely knows what she's doing. 

"Mukuro and I don't remember anything at 11:00, so I don't think we have an alibi." Ibuki said. "This amnesia really sucks!"

"Makoto and I were talking in one of the classrooms around that time." Sayaka said, lining up with what Hiyoko told us earlier. 

"That's right," Makoto nodded, "so we can vouch for each other saying that we didn't kill Fuyuhiko."

"I stayed in my room." Nagito said with a shrug. "I was feeling kind of tired, so I dozed off."

"I too, along with Nagito, went to sleep as soon as I entered my room!" Taka said. "An inventor like myself should never work while tired!" 

"I also chilled out in my room the entire time." Miu said. 

Wait... that doesn't line up with Hiyoko! "Are you sure about that, Miu?"

I didn't find much as I searched Miu's face when she turned to me. "Are you seriously trying to embarrass yourself? What do you mean am I sure? I totally am!"

"Interesting..." I turned to Hiyoko, who had the same skeptic look as me, "thoughts, Hiyoko?"

Hiyoko smirked. "I think that I caught you red-handed in the cookie jar, you stinky hag of a bitch!"

Miu's eyes widened only a millimeter. "A-and how can you prove that, titless?"

"See last night, I was people watching from the Despair Hotel, watching as people went in and out." Hiyoko explained. "I happen to have seen you leave around 11:00 and come back at 11:15. More than enough time to kill Fuyuhiko!"

"Oh, please." Miu rolled her eyes. "You're clearly lying! If you weren't, then why did you ask for everyone's alibis right now if you already knew?"

"To catch anyone who tried to lie, much like you did!" Hiyoko said with a sneer. "Only a weak minded pig like you would fall for such a thing."

"In Miu's defense," Peko started. "it is a little hard to believe you, Hiyoko. Is there any way to prove that you are telling the truth?"

Hiyoko didn't back down; it was almost admirable. "Duh! I saw you leave the hotel at 10:15 and come back at around 11:15! I also saw Ibuki leave at around the same time. Is it true that you two came and went at the same time?"

"Yes, actually! I remember leaving to see what Fuyuhiko was up to!" Ibuki said with a smile.

"I too left at 10:15." Peko closed her eyes and sighed. "Very well. Hiyoko's testimony is valid."

"V-very well," Miu gritted her teeth, "but you can't incriminate me on some dumb time interval! You need more than that to tie this sexy body down!"

Kotoko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can you at least tell us what you were doing while you were out?"

"Sure!" Miu sneered, as if it would prove her innocence. "I went to the shitty gift shop for a little bit. Then I went into one of the classrooms to draw a comic."

"That's hardly an alibi!" Mahiru pointed out. "Did anyone see you?"

"N-no," Miu confirmed, "b-but I'm sure I accidentally left the comic and supplies in the classroom. Not to mention, there's no other proof that I ever went into the girls' locker room or pool!"

"No, that's wrong!" I might have yelled that louder than I wanted, but I wasn't going to back out now. "Isn't that right Sayaka?"

Sayaka looked up at the sound of her name. "Um, I'm afraid that I don't know what you're taking about, Mukuro."

I held back an annoyed sigh. "Remember the picture you took of the trail of blood that you showed me?"

"Yeah, but how does that help accuse Miu?"

"Because of the footprints. You said yourself that they looked like high heels. And there's only one person here that's wearing them... right?"

"I don't wear heels." Peko said. "They're uncomfortable."

"Same here." Mahiru agreed. 

"I sometimes wear heels, but only when I cosplay." Ibuki said.

"I just wear flip flops." Hiyoko looked down, most likely at her shoes. "They get in the way when I work."

"Heels would make me too wobbly for focused shots." Sayaka said. 

"And I mostly left the high heels to my sister, who is dead." I turned to the only one who didn't answer. "So that only leaves you, Miu."

Miu didn't say anything to that. She stepped back from the podium and stared at me with both fear and anger. 

"So, Miu?" Nagito leaned towards her. "Did you kill him?"

"F-fine!" Miu threw her hands up in anger. "I... I might have killed him."

"What do you mean you might have?" Kotoko narrowed her eyes. "You either did or you didn't."

The conversation tuned out after that. A throbbing pain started up in my head. It felt like my brain was tired and strained. I clutched my head with both my heads. The noise wasn't helping, and I almost felt like passing out. 

Then it stopped. And my eyes widened as a result. 

"I remember..."

/\/\/\/\

"I killed my sister."

I nearly stood up from my seat at Fuyuhiko's answer. "You... what?!"

Fuyuhiko avoided looking at me in shame of what he's done. "It was an attack in the palace. I ditched her in order to survive."

I put a hand to my mouth. "Fuyuhiko... I'm so sorry..." 

Fuyuhiko sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

I nodded in understanding. "That's fine, we can continue to read in silence."

And we did. I became lost reading about spiders' habitats. They can apparently live anywhere! Arctic, deserts, rainforests, as long as they have a place to spin their web at the end of the day, they can live anywhere. 

I became so enveloped that I didn't notice the sound of Fuyuhiko pulling out something metal. I also didn't notice him shifting and slowly walking towards me. I only looked up from my book when I saw a shadow looming over me. 

"NO!" 

When Fuyuhiko swung down, I was jerked out of the way. While I managed to not suffer a fatal injury, I still felt the skin in my arm be torn, and nerves being cut. I screamed in pain, the only thing holding me up was the arms of my savior. 

I looked up to find Fuyuhiko picking up a sharp knife, staring right over my shoulder. "The hell do you think you're doing, Mioda?" 

"I-Ibuki?" I stood up and looked behind me to find Ibuki staring right back at Fuyuhiko. 

She glanced in my direction and smiled, before her face fell into fear. "Look out!"

She pulled my arm, jerking me forward as she bolted out of the library. I almost fell, but I somehow managed to match her pace. I could barely hear the footsteps of Fuyuhiko behind me over the should of my own heartbeat and thoughts about how I almost died. 

"To the locker room! He can't follow us there!" I heard Ibuki bark out. 

"O-okay!" I managed to say. 

We opened the door to the pool with our free hands, not frisking letting go of each other. We rushed to the girls' locker room door, pulled out out handbooks. Ibuki rushed in first, and I was about to follow when a shout caused me to freeze up. 

"MUKURO!" 

I turned to see Fuyuhiko rush to me, his arm winding up to stab me. He might have succeeded if Ibuki didn't pull me in and closed the door. She was a little harsh and basically threw me on the floor, but it was for good reason. 

There was pounding on the door, most likely from Fuyuhiko. "YOU BASTARDS! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU CAN'T HIDE IN HERE FOREVER, YOU KNOW!"

The pounding continued for what felt like hours. Ibuki crouching down and extended her hand for me to hold; I almost squeezed her hand. 

Then the pounding stopped, and I heard the sound of footsteps get quieter until the only sound I heard was the leftover adrenaline beating through my heart. 

"I think he's gone." Ibuki said. "Can you stand up?" 

I slowly nodded, unsure of myself. I managed to get up on wobbly legs. "You saved me..." 

"Well, of course!" Ibuki smiled. "Ibuki would never leave her friends behind!"

I quickly wrapped my arms around her neck in a hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" I said as tears started to flow from my eyes. 

"Hey, it's okay." Ibuki wrapped her arms around my waist, one hand rubbing my back. "We're safe now."

"But what about when we leave?" I looked down at her, as she was a couple inches shorter than me. "What if Fuyuhiko is waiting for us?" 

"Then... then we'll stay here!" Ibuki smiled, though it was wavering every now and then. "For the night. And I'm sure someone will come in and save us! And if, for some reason, Fuyuhiko manages to get in, we can hide in those lockers over there!"

So we stayed there. We spruced up some conversation every now and then, but Ibuki must have noticed how tense I was and eventually gave up. I think it was the first time I saw Ibuki genuinely scared. 

Then the pounding started up again. 

"Okay, you bastards! I'm giving you five seconds to come out, or I'm coming in!" Fuyuhiko shouted.

I looked at Ibuki, who put a finger to her mouth, signaling me to be quiet.

"5..."

We slowly made our way to the lockers, making sure to make as little sound as possible. 

"4..."

We each opened a locker. 

"3..." 

I began to crawl in; I assume Ibuki did the same. 

"2..."

I squeezed myself in and slowly closed the door. 

"1!"

The door opened a millisecond after my locker door closed. 

I couldn't see much through the door, but I could hear the footsteps of Fuyuhiko treading around the room. I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming or breathing heavily. 

I sat in the locker for who knows how long, trying not to take the chance of bursting out and running as fast as my legs could catch me. What if Fuyuhiko found Ibuki instead? That would mean that it would be Mukuro's fault. She would never forgive herself if—

The locker door swung open. "Found you."

I screamed as loud as possible, but it was short lived as Fuyuhiko lifted me up and punched me in the jaw. 

"MUKURO!" 

I saw Ibuki open her locker as I faded to consciousness.

/\/\/\/\

"I remember!" 

Everyone turned to me. 

"Y-you do?" Kotoko asked in disbelief and surprise. "Wh-what do you remember?" 

I told them everything. From the library to the locker room to the locker itself. "... and then he punched me, causing me to fall unconscious!"

"At least we know how you idiots all ended up there." Hiyoko turned to Ibuki. "What about you, you ugly pig barf? Do you remember anything?"

Ibuki squeezed her temple and borrowed her eyes in focus. "... no, I still can't remember a thing!"

"Then... does it sound possible that Ibuki was the one who hit Fuyuhiko over the head with the dumbbell?" Shuichi asked. "She would most likely need to in self defense."

I tensed up. How did the thought of Ibuki being the blackened not cross my mind? Maybe it was because I didn't want to believe it, that the closest thing I have to a friend would end up being executed if I were to expose her. "W-wait! It isn't confirmed that the heavy blow was the fatal injury!"

"True. And we still need to hear Miu's side of the story." Peko turned to the aforementioned dousing author. "Well, Miu?"

"Ugh, fine!" Miu crossed her arms, seeming disinterested. "I went to the girls' locker room a little after 11, and I saw Ibuki looking terrified at Fuyuhiko and Mukuro. She most likely believed she fucking killed him or something. Anyway, when she saw me, I panicked and knocked her out. worried that I would be her next victim. Then as the gravity of the situation settled on me, I thought that maybe Fuyuhiko wasn't actually dead or something, and seeing how reckless Fuyuhiko was being, I decided to finish the job by throwing him in the pool, happy?"

"So... are you saying you killed him?" Nagito crossed his arms. "Why?" 

"I told you, I don't know!" Miu shouted in irritation. "I didn't know if he was dead at the time!"

"So it's between Miu and Ibuki as the blackened." Makoto murmured the obvious. "But how can we discover which one is the blackened?"

I know the answer, but I don't think I want to say it. Everyone seemed to be clueless as to how, so maybe if I can stay quiet, then she could leave the school! She could live!

"Mukuro?" I heard Ibuki whisper. Turning to face her, her expression was solemn, but determined. "You know who did it, right?" 

I nodded, tightly closing my eyes to hold back tears. "I do." 

Ibuki put a hand on my shoulder. "Then you know what to do." 

My eyes widened. "No... Ibuki, please—"

"Hey, it's alright. I lived a good life. An amazing life. Ibuki wouldn't trade it for the world. Besides, she'd hate to be the reason you were killed." 

"But I don't want to say goodbye to you. You're the only one here who has had my back. What will I do when you're gone?"

"Here's what you are going to do. You are not going to give up. You are going to get out of here, and rub it in the mastermind's face."

"Ibuki—"

"You are going to be the greatest bug scientists the world has ever known."

"Ibuki!"

"And you are going to be happy again. You are going to come out of this a stronger person, and you will never let this happen again."

I didn't say anything that time. "I don't want to lose you..."

"You won't. As long as you're still believing in yourself and moving forward, I will never leave you, okay?" 

"... okay." I cleared my throat, trying to hold back any tears. "I have proof that will help us find the blackened!"

"You do?" Sayaka asked, leaning her upper body in my direction. "Well, what is it?"

I glanced at Ibuki, who nodded with a smile. I sucked in a deep breath, and sealed her fate. 

"The body discovery announcement." 

"The body discovery announcement?" Mahiru repeated. "How does that prove anything?"

"Nagito," I began, "you said you were the last person who triggered the announcement, right?"

Nagito nodded. "That is correct."

"And did anyone else other than Miu find the body overnight?" I asked. 

I was answered by variants of "no" with varying volumes. 

"Then the second person who found the corpse was Miu, leaving only one person to first see the body." I turned to the blackened I was implying. "Ibuki."

"Oh, so if Fuyuhiko was still alive after Ibuki struck him," Taka further explained for me, "then it wouldn't have gone off when Nagito saw him!"

"That does make sense, but the reasoning seems... a little shaky." Nagito muttered. "But that's probably just me."

"Then how about we go through what happened," Ibuki suggested, "from start to finish. You wouldn't mind doing the honors, would you, Mukuro?"

"I..." I shook my head, hoping that would make this nightmare go away, "I'm not strong enough to do that, Ibuki."

"Then I'll lend you my strength, okay?" Ibuki placed her hand over mine. "You got this!"

"... okay then. Here's what happened..."

/\/\/\/\

"It all started when Monokuma gave us all the motives. The motive was our darkest and deepest secrets, and the victim, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, was very worried about his getting out, so he knew he had to take action. Luckily for him, he was meeting up with myself with no one else knowing about it. So he grabbed a random knife and went to our meeting place, the library. But unknown to him, someone—the culprit— was secretly following him.

"So Fuyuhiko and I were in the library together, reading and occasionally talking with each other. In that duration, Fuyuhiko found the perfect time to strike! But as soon as he attempted to stab me, I was pulled out of the way by none other than the culprit! The two of us rushed out of the library, with Fuyuhiko on our tail.

"The culprit and I found refuge in the girls' locker room, because Fuyuhiko couldn't enter without being shot by the Gatling gun hanging on the ceiling. So he had to find another way to enter without being killed. Unfortunately, he didn't think of a way until he went back to his room. In that time, he found out about a certain loophole that Monokuma deliberately put in the rules. So he left the dorm rooms as seen by Hiyoko Saionji, journeyed to the main hall, grabbed Tsumugi's E-handbook, and went back up to the locker rooms. 

"Meanwhile, the culprit and I didn't leave the girls' locker room. We were worried that Fuyuhiko didn't leave the door, and we didn't want to risk it. So when Fuyuhiko announced that he was coming in, we squeezed ourselves into two the lockers to hide. Sadly, Fuyuhiko found me, and managed to knock me out.

"The culprit saw this, and stepped out of their hiding place to come to my aid. In the process, they grabbed the nearest weapon—a dumbbell—and crushed in Fuyuhiko's skull, killing him. That would have been the end of things if it weren't for another person entering the girls' locker room: Miu Iruma!

"Miu witnessed the culprit staring at what they've done, and out of panic, knocked the victim out by punching them. As Miu took in everything she saw, she decided to add her own twist into it. She grabbed Fuyuhiko's body, dragged it to the pool, and tossed it in there. 

"The culprit... is you, Ibuki Mioda!"

/\/\/\/\

"Congrats!" Monokuma clapped his hands together after we voted. "You all got it right! The blackened is Ibuki Mioda!" 

"Great job, guys!" Ibuki gave us a thumbs up, and a bug smile. 

"What do you mean, good job?" I fought back the urge to scream. "You're about to get executed! What do you mean, good job?!"

Ibuki giggled. "Because you guys get to survive another day! And besides, the fact that I've been trying to find the blackened, and it ended up being me? Crazy! I can't not laugh at that!"

"But... how... how are you so calm?" I grabbed her shoulders. "You promised me that you wouldn't leave my side. We agreed to go and eat ice cream after this class trial! Does the relationship we developed mean nothing?" 

Ibuki sighed, wiping a tear from my cheek. "You mean everything to me, Mukuro. Which is why I'm saying goodbye with a smile on my face. I'd hate to leave you all on a bad note."

"You don't even regret what you've done?" Hiyoko asked. She seemed more curious than doubtful or confused. "Do you even care that you killed someone?"

Ibuki shook her head. "It's a shame that Fuyuhiko caused such a thing to happen, but..." her gaze turned back to me, "I would've killed someone a thousand times over if it meant you all got out of here alive."

I looked down at my shoes, not daring to look into her eyes. If I hadn't met up with Fuyuhiko, then Ibuki wouldn't be executed. Ibuki would still have the chance of leaving this hell alive with the rest of us. But because I was too trusting, too careless, she's going to get executed. 

"Mukuro?" Ibuki called out, lifting my chin so I bet her apologetic gaze. "This isn't your fault. It's the mastermind's. It's also a little bit Fuyuhiko's but mostly the mastermind. Please don't beat yourself up over this." 

"But... if I didn't meet up with him, this wouldn't have happened..."

"No, that's wrong. Because I followed Fuyuhiko without knowing that he was meeting up with you. If someone else was in your shoes that night, I would've protected them all the same. Now can you promise me something?"

"It's the least I could do, I guess..." 

"Can you promise Ibuki that you will not let the mastermind succeed? She wouldn't like it if her death was in vain, you know."

"I... I can try..." 

"No, you will. You will get out of here and live your best life, okay?"

"Okay, okay!" Monokuma interjected. "Enough sappy stuff! It's time for the execution!"

Ibuki gripped my shoulders. "Mukuro, promise me."

"Now then, I've created a very special punishment for Ibuki Mioda, the Ultimate Cosplayer!" 

"Promise me, Mukuro!"

"Let's give it everything we got, it's punishment time!"

"I promise, Ibuki." I answered. "You can count on it."

/\/\/\/\

Ibuki Mioda is chained to the floor, underneath her is a giant piece of red fabric. She is surrounded by giant scissors, giant needles, and an even bigger sewing machine. All materials and tools that Ibuki uses to make her stellar cosplays. 

The needle is the first to move. It stabs its way through Ibuki's limbs. It goes in one side, comes out the other. Each stab is followed by a black thread in the eye of the needle. The needle makes its way through the edges of Ibuki's skin, connecting her flesh to the fabric. 

The scissors go next, cutting off and excess or unnecessary fabric (or skin). Slowly but surely, the scissors cut pieces of fabric, and cuts off Ibuki's toes and fingers. Dissatisfied, the scissors decided to cut more fabric, which cuts off Ibuki's hands and feet. 

The last to go is the sewing machine. The fabric slowly inches closer to the foot of the sewing machine, and all Ibuki can do is wait for it to crush her. 

Then the sewing machine starts faster. Ibuki would have jerked up if it weren't for the back thread holding her down. The foot hangs right on top of her, giving her a moment to look at the weapon about to kill her. Closing her eyes, Ibuki's last expression is a smile, before her face gets flattened.

/\/\/\/\

I screamed. Ibuki's death was gruesome. Even more so than Tsumugi's. 

I deserved to die. Not Ibuki, who did nothing wrong. Who didn't deserve to be killed. 

I could barely hear Monokuma's speech, and I was almost grateful. Whatever he said would've caused more despair to be brought onto me. 

Can I even keep my promise?

The sweet release of death seems like such a great pleasure. It would be a way out of this. A way to see Ibuki again. 

A way to see Junko again. 

But what would they think? They wouldn't want me to succumb to such a death. Junko would call me stupid and rant to me about how "easy" I was to break, and Ibuki would be upset about how I broke her promise. 

This... I can't die in a place like this. 

But... what if I have no choice?

If Monokuma really wanted my despair, then he sure as hell succeeded. 

/\/\/\/\

"Well, anyway, like I was saying... this is a pretty good spot... yeah, a really good spot! Isn't it amazing how that girl went and killed someone before things even had a chance to get boring? Once things really get moving, it'll be like a rollercoaster. There won't be any stopping it! Fear and despair charge charge forward at a speed nothing can hope to match. 

"But I must admit, I'm disappointed... I went to all the pain and effort of making you part of the group, and you couldn't even play your part... you do remember you were supposed to make the first move, right? Well, no biggie. Nothing we can do about it now. So just do your best to make things more exciting from now on, okay? After all, that's what everyone wants to see..."

"... There's something I want to ask you..."

"As long as you don't wanna know my measurements, fire away!"

"Who is it? Who's the sixteenth high school student?"

"M-my my, you really took me by surprise there. I know I said you can ask anything, but... super denied! Ultra denied! Demonic denied! Because you see... that's my ace in the hole. And nobody's be dumb enough to reveal that, right? No matter how close they were to their 'friends'..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoever thought that I would give our lovely Mukuro a break and not wreck her life even more is a clown. 
> 
> But yeah, Class trials are simultaneously the easiest and hardest to write. I know the end, but getting there is rather difficult. 
> 
> I know that there are some holes in the murder case itself, but I’m not a professional, I’m pulling things out of my ass and fitting it together like a puzzle.
> 
> Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed!


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